Love Sucks
by StarrNight
Summary: A wild, wacky story about a small town where everyone knows way too much about each other. Marlin wants Celia, Celia wants Jack, Jack wants Nami, Nami wants Gustafa, and Gustafa wants illegal substances. Muffy wants Rock and Rock...well...Rock wants himself. Don't even get me started on Daryl, the local crazy scientist. Does love really suck...if it happens at all?
1. Character Analysis

Love Sucks

Character Analysis

Before the story starts, I'd like to present some info on the main characters. Thank you in advance to anyone who reviews! I hope we shall have fun with this one.

Nami-

Name: Nami

Occupation: Traveler, if that's any of your business!

Place of Work: The World

Residence: Upstairs room in Tim and Ruby's inn

Age: 22

Description: Short red hair, blue eyes, 5' 3'' not pale, not tan

Family and Background: Nami has no boyfriend, no job, no siblings, and no parents. It's not as if she misses them or anything, though.

Who is Nami: Nami loves watching the weather, clouds, and pressure zones, while plotting them down on a notebook. She is very quiet, but can come out of her shell when encouraged. She has a temper to match her hair, and is inclined to keep her feelings in a clam shell. Nami also loves spicy food and detests flowers, with the exception of Trick Blue. She enjoys music and unbeknownst to her friends, can play the harp well. Nami is the smartest of the girls, can speak Spanish, and is very much a tomboy. Can a boy succeed in wooing her? Will she freeze him with a death glare? That _is_ the question.

Lumina-

Name: Lumina

Occupation: Temperamental Musician

Place of Work: N/A

Residence: A Mansion at the top of the town

Age: 21

Description: Shoulder length caramel hair, hazel eyes, 5' 1'' and tan

Family and Background: She lives with her grandma, Romana, after her parents died. She does have a brother, but I won't spoil that for you.

Who is Lumina: Lumina plays piano obsessively, and composes songs to play. She is very artsy, and is reasonably skilled in all forms of art, except dancing. The girl can't dance to save her life. Singing is another form of art she practices borderline obsessively. Lumina is mostly kind, but is also a schemer. Revenge is sweet, whenever she feels that she has been wronged. Her scheming side seems to come out around Nami, never Romana. She longs to go and find her brother, to find out how her parents died. Her grandmother never discusses it. I wouldn't describe Lumina as a perfect lady, but she's no wild girl either….or is she?

Muffy-

Name: Muffy

Occupation: Waitress

Place of Work: Griffin's Bar

Residence: The loft in the back of the bar

Age: 24

Description: Mounds of bright, curly blonde hair. Green eyes, pale skin, and is 5' 3''

Family and Background: She came to FMN valley at the age of 19. Griffin is her father figure. She does indeed have a cousin, named Eve.

Who is Muffy: Muffy can't cook at all. In fact, her cooking rivals Karen's. But she can make specialty drinks like nobody's business. Muffy is also gifted with dancing and flexibility, having taken numerous classes when she was younger. Her temperament is generally boisterous. What the girl lacks in brains is readily made up in sheer likeability, however! Maybe she is blonde sometimes….often….but she doesn't hold grudges. She's also not afraid to tell you what she thinks. Muffy and Rock have been friends for a long time, and maybe something will come of it.

Celia-

Name: Celia

Occupation: General Farmhand

Place of Work: Vesta's Farm

Residence: The attic of Vesta's farmhouse

Age: 25

Description:  Long, straight dark brown hair usually pulled up in a bandanna. Brown eyes, tan skin, 5' 2'' aprox. She doesn't care enough to measure.

Family and Background: Celia's parents sent her to live with her aunt, Vesta, when she was two. They said that they needed space- yeah right, room to travel the world and have fun. She has no clue that she does indeed have a brother.

Who is Celia: Celia isn't the boldest girl the world has ever seen. She doesn't like to deliberately pick a fight, unless it's with Marlin. Cooking is her strength, but she has yet to drill some chef sense into Muffy's head. Celia could cook almost anything, if given proper ingredients. She also possesses a rather lovely voice. It might not be as strong as Lumina's, but it's gorgeous in a quiet way. One of her character flaws is lying to keep the peace. She will also nurse a grudge until kingdom come, which is why Marlin has yet to win her heart.

Jack-

Name: Jack

Occupation: Aspiring Farmer

Place of Work: Calendula Farm

Residence: Calendula Farm

Age: 23

Description: Short, messy chocolate-brown hair, tan skin, brown eyes, medium height for a guy.

Family and Background: He moves to FMN at the beginning of our tale, to try and start being productive with his life. Takakura was his father's best friend, and is the only parent he has.

Who is Jack: Jack is a good natured guy who is trying to earn an honest living on his new farm. Takakura sent him a letter telling him about the farm, and how cute the valley girls were. Jack is only human, and of course accepted the offer. His parents took him to school one day, and never picked him up, so he was eventually legally adopted. He knows that his big sister is out in the world somewhere, and searches for a girl named "Fairlight". The boy can be accused of trying to act cool, as well as being insensitive at times. (But then again, what boy isn't? Come on, admit it guys.) All the same, he's still a sweetie, which is why all the girls love him.

Gustafa-

Name: Gustafa

Occupation: Hugging trees

Place of Work: Mother Nature

Residence: A yurt behind Tim's inn

Age: 25

Description: Shoulder length mouse brown hair, pale skin, green eyes, a bit shorter than Jack.

Family and Background: Gustafa has lived in FMN ever since he was a child. His parents moved away, but he stayed behind. He has no siblings.

Who is Gustafa: Gustafa, in short, loves no one but himself, his guitar, and nature. He would happily spend his days strumming his instrument, picking flowers, and painting abstract pictures. Even though Nami favors him, he won't marry. Or will he?

Rock-

Name: Rock

Occupation: Professional Flirt

Place of Work: He doesn't. Plain and simple.

Residence: His parent's inn

Age: 24

Description: A shock of white-blonde hair, blue eyes, pale skin, and is actually kind of tall

Family and Background: Tim and Ruby adopted Rock from infancy. He tries…sometimes…to help at the Inn. No siblings exist that he knows of.

Who is Rock: If Rock couldn't flirt, he'd shrivel up into a tiny blonde piece of dirt, and die. The only girl he hasn't succeeded in hitting on is Nami. This is directly resulting of the fact that she scares him. He's easygoing, bubbly, and very shallow. This (and the hair) is what makes him and Muffy such a cute pair. You could step in a puddle of the two of them and barely wet your feet. We do love our blondies, don't we though? Rock can be lazy, but it's not like his parents don't try to fix it. Will our flirtatious friend ever learn to flirt with just one girl?

Marlin-

Name: Marlin

Occupation: Grumpy Farmhand

Place of Work: Vesta's Farm

Residence: A shed on the farm

Age: 27

Description: Black, Elvis-style hair, black eyes, average skin tone, not as tall as Rock, but taller than Jack.

Family and Background: Marlin's parents are both lawyers, and aren't important. Neither are his siblings.

Who is Marlin: Doctors told this angsty man to move somewhere in the country and escape the stress of city life. Little did Marlin know that moving to FMN valley would bring another stress-Celia. When he first met her, he called her a name and she never forgave him. Marlin is shy, grumpy and prideful. He is also very nice, loving, and hard-working. Vesta took him in and is raising him like her own little temperamental pride and joy.


	2. Beloved Townsfolk

I'm sorry for taking so long to post! But at long last, here is the first chapter. This is just for introductions. Enjoy!

Nirak: Thank you so much. I hope you like this one.

AliensRockMyWorld: Well, I kind of made up the heights, but they seem to work.

Kelley28: thanks!

Kasai-Mitsukai: thanks, I haven't played the game in a while, so it was a mistake. Thank you for the first review!

Chapter One: Beloved Townspeople

Dawn slowly crept into the valley, seeking out the nooks and crannies of the town and filling them with light. It reflected off of Vesta's late growing sweet potato leaves, and made the dew seem to dance. Yes, we are looking down on this peaceful village, because as author and reader, you and I have the power to do that. Why? Because I'm writing it here, and that's the way it is! It's called "Third Person Omniscient". Anyway, back to our dear characters.

The door opened, and a tall, tubby woman stepped out of the house, admiring the morning. Her carrot hair was still very frizzy from the sleep. Her head turned, and she spoke to another girl who was exiting the house.

"Celia, darlin' would you mind wakin' up Marlin? The boy is always sleepin' too late." Celia smiled and nodded, then made a face as the hefty woman walked away. She walked over to another building and stood at the door, obviously debating something. Suddenly, she let out a wild howl, and banged on the door. It flew open, and a black-haired man in purple pajamas jumped out, looking around for fire, murder, and blood; anything that would have merited such an awakening.

He cast an angry look over at the girl, who was giggling herself silly over the sight of him in pajamas, and stalks back into the building, slamming the door behind him. Celia adjusted her yellow bandanna and wandered over to the garden, laughter still spilling out.

About this time, Gustafa came out of his yurt, and stretched his arms. He smiled at the trees and unfolded a mat that was tucked under his arm. This was a yoga mat, for Gustafa always spent an hour each morning doing yoga, to "center himself". He normally started in mountain pose.

Marlin finally grumped out of his tiny house, and stomped over to the main building to partake of the breakfast, made by Celia. Vesta clapped him hard on the back, unaware of the pride-grinding he had just gone through.

Muffy had just woken up and changed into her tight red dress. She clumped down the stairs from her loft and started to open the blinds in the small bar. Griffin yawned sleepily and came out of the back room. Muffy saw him and smiles, showing her bright white teeth.

"Good morning, Griffin! Isn't the sky just as blue as you could wish for today?" As we can readily tell, Muffy is most certainly a morning bird. Griffin on the other hand, grunted noncommittally and poured himself some strong coffee. These two are very different, but somehow always seem to get along. If the rough bartender minded his blonde "daughter" being so peppy, he didn't comment. I personally believe that her zeal helped him to get up on the mornings.

Sweet chords floated down from the top of the hill beside Samantha's house. Occasionally a sour note would spoil the moment and the musician would bang on the piano irritably. Lumina had obviously woken up.

The girl had settled into her hard wooden piano seat, and began her morning practice hour. These hours were either pleasing or torturous to the townsfolk, depending on her mood. This morning her hair was combed neatly, her plaid sage and orange dress was straight, and her shoes were buckled. All three of these facts were good signs that she was in a decent mood.

Lumina might have been called bipolar, if the town's mothers hadn't pronounced her mood swings "perfectly normal". On the days that she was feeling sad, depressing elegies filled the air, bringing the entire village's spirit down. When she felt angry, staccato notes were plunked out. The terrible mornings when she was feeling emo, unbalanced and angsty, random measures from assorted tunes irritated everyone in the vicinity. Thankfully, practice was normal today.

Muffy sat down and listened to the pretty notes. They seemed to match the fairy-tale like sky outside. Griffin took down several dusty bottles from a shelf, and began rinsing them off in the sink. The young lady stood up once more and walked out the door, high heels tapping.

Her steps brought her to Vesta's farm, where Celia was weeding the carrot bed. She tapped the latter's shoulder, who jumped slightly, but smiled when she realized who it was.

"Hello, Muffy! Did you sleep well last night?" Celia grinned, looking very much guilty of something.

"Yes I did, thank you." She examined the farm girl's face. "Why do you look so guilty?" She asked, expecting a good story. Celia was only too happy to retell the story of Marlin and his pajamas. Muffy giggled daintily, while Celia accidentally pulled out carrots instead of weeds, she was laughing so hard. Marlin moved to another field, away from the girls, even though they were perfectly aware that he could hear. Muffy gives a final snicker and then stands up to go back to her belated bar. Celia waves good-bye, so as not to get dirt all over her friend's pretty dress by hugging her.

The late risers, namely Nami and Rock, were just now sleepily opening their eyes. Rock got out of bed, (not bothering to make the bed) and threw on his clothes. He proudly hung a shiny golden peace medallion on his neck, and then ran down the stairs, three at a time.

Nami had beaten him down and was sitting in the kitchen, drinking coffee and looking surly. Rock wisely decided not to bother her and started to eat breakfast instead. Her short fiery hair was all mussed, indicating perturbation of the mind. Ruby bustled into the kitchen and spotted the two.

"Hello, my sleeping beauties!" She said in her quiet, slightly hoarse voice. Rock glanced up and shouted out a greeting. Nami raised her eyes suspiciously, and gave a half-hearted grunt. Ruby was used to such communication with the crabby redhead, and began to boil water.

Breakfast was soon finished, Rock spilt milk on the floor and Nami left her mug on the table, causing Ruby to frown slightly at her retreating back. The platinum boy yawned again and left the Inn to go down to the bar. Maybe Muff would have some spice to add to this tasteless morning. Nami went upstairs again to stand on the back balcony. Let's follow Rock first.

He, shall we say, "be-bopped" down the main road until he reached the Blue Bar. Lumina was walking down the hill from her house to the same street. He waved at her, she blushed, and he celebrated inwardly. She had always been an easy one to flirt with. Muffy was washing glasses when he entered the bar. She turned and spotted him, her eyes shining with the gossip that she was bursting at the seams to tell.

Meanwhile, Nami had come out onto the porch, notebook in hand. She craned her head upwards, scribbled something, looked up again, and scribbled one more time. Guitar chords started "twanging", distracting her. She looked up, and her eyes found Gustafa sitting on a log, playing the instrument. Her eyes softened, gazing at the long-haired hippie with something that might have resembled…attraction? Wow, I bet you didn't expect that. Nami actually has a heart!

Muffy finished the tale, gratified to hear Rock's wild burst of laughter. She finished wiping down the glass that was in her hands, and reached for a bottle of clear liquid.

"I'm feeling inventive today, Rock. Care to try my newest concoction?" The boy thought for a second, and then nodded.

"Sure, babe. The last one you made was pretty good; just don't give me another black cherry pineapple mix!" Muffy tried to frown, but ended up giggling at herself.

"I'm going to make something terrible, just for you!" He groaned jokingly at the thought.

Lumina had arrived at the Inn, and ascended the stairs. She stepped out onto the deck where Nami was to be found, staring at the guitarist. Not sure what to do, she sat down behind the entranced girl. Nami eventually turned around to grab her notebook, and was faced with smirking Lumina.

"What's this? Nami, is staring at a man? Is that possible?" The younger girl was eying her amusedly. Nami glared daggers at her friend.

"Is that any of your business?" She asked coldly. Lumina smiled evilly.

"Of course it's not. That doesn't mean I can't ask!" Nami rolled her eyes, trying hard to veer her eyes away from the grove where Gustafa sat.

"Whatever." They sat for a few more minutes, until Lumina brought up the weather. They talked on random subjects, swapping angsty stories.

Later in the afternoon, Celia dusted her ragged apron off and walked into the main house. Vesta was talking on the phone with a customer buying seeds. The customer appeared to have made the large woman upset, and they were yelling at each other. Celia ducked one of her aunt's swinging fists, and turned the stove on. She looked in the refrigerator and found vegetables….and no meat.

"Where am I supposed to find meat?" She normally only bought it when Van was in town. After much debate, it was decided that steamed veggies would make up that night's meal. Vesta wouldn't mind, but Marlin would. Oh, well. Too bad for him.

Marlin was outside, looking up at the setting sun. _Why does she still hate me? I've been nice ever since…what am I supposed to do? _It was true; he had been very civil…99 of the time. All that he lacked was an apology, which of course never occurred to him. You see, my dear reader, Marlin had a little thing called "ego", making him believe that Celia was at fault. She was at fault, but so was Marlin. They are both stubborn little farmhands.

Night fell gracefully over the tiny village. Rock and Muffy both stayed up late into the night giggling and making stupid puns. I couldn't relate them if I tried, for some things are just too dumb. Muffy's newest drink was partly to blame for the giddiness, I must say. Rock finally danced home at 1:00, feeling that life was too interesting to bear. Muffy fell asleep almost instantly, a laugh still curving her lips into a smile.

Lumina left Nami when both of their stomachs were starting to growl. The latter was just finishing up a story that she had heard in her rare newspaper, about a huge scandal that had erupted in more densely populated areas of the world. Both of the two girls were highly intelligent, and understood these things better than the others would have. Muffy would have blinked furiously, trying to piece it together in her mind, while Celia would have frowned sadly at such ignorant people. But the exchange was that both Celia and Muffy were much more amiable.

True to Celia's prediction, Marlin picked around at the vegetables and did not eat much, even though the brunette had tried her best to season the vegetables well. They were savory and tasty, as well as being very squishy. Vesta ate heartily while booming out stories of the worst customers that she had ever encountered. Both Celia and Marlin just nodded at the pauses.

As they headed off to bed, Marlin stopped Celia and tried to gather his thoughts. Instead of speaking, he managed a squeaky grunt. The girl rolled her chocolate eyes, flouncing off to the house, leaving the poor boy still standing there, sweating profusely.

Gustafa finished playing his music for the day, feeling that nature was in harmony today. He opened the flap to his yurt and ducked inside. How he loved the beautiful town of Forget-Me-Not Valley.

And so the day ended for our townies. I would have loved to tell you that each person fell asleep with a smile on their faces, but it wouldn't be true. Griffin, Marlin, and Vesta snore terribly, and Lumina talks in her sleep. But still, it was a peaceful sleep, not one of them aware of what (actually who) would grace their peaceful valley with his presence, and steal most of their hearts.


	3. He's New and He's Hott!

Yes, I am a bad, bad girl for not updating. I hope that this chapter will at least slightly amuse you, however!

Thank you Sarah303, Moonlit Dreaming, AliensRockMyWorld, Nirak, Kasai-Mitsukai, and Kelley28! It inspired me to get my butt back on this story.

Enjoy and laugh at how ridiculous out little friends are!

Starry

CHAPTER TWO: He's New and He's Hott

Now that introductions are over, it's time to shove yet another hapless victim into our story. This particular boy is so good-natured, however, that I'm sure he won't mind. He's just here for his new farm…and the local chicks. Will they mind his presence? I tend to doubt it. He's kind of cute. Shall we awaken them? Yes, we shall.

This morning dawned chilly and wet. Celia was up very early, covering various plants against the approaching winter but not before making sure another good morning surprise awaited the unsuspecting Marlin. A large raccoon ambled sleepily into the farm, looking for tender carrot leaves to snack on. The brunette sensed danger to her plants, grabbed a large straw broom that was leaning against a greenhouse and went after that fat old coon like a whirlwind. It was too sleepy to fight back and waddled off in the direction of Galen's tiny hut.

Vesta had opened the farmhouse door, hearing a loud commotion outside. She stood in the doorway, coffee in hand, observing the fierce brooming of the bewildered raccoon. When Celia protective battle had been won, Vesta laughed a booming chuckle.

"Celia, child, you're remindin' me of one of them women warriors. I gotta say you look good out there a'swingin that broom like it were a sword!" Celia grinned and leaned the "sword" back where she had found it. Vesta yawned and instructed the girl to go begin breakfast. For some reason unbeknownst to the big-boned farmer, Celia was reluctant to do so. But duty called, and inside she trooped.

Muffy woke with a terrible headache, result of too many shared midnight laughs. Her usual early morning vigor was dropped, but only slightly. She wiped counters and sang very loudly…and very off-key. Griffin, who was still trying to sleep, groaned into his pillow. That girl needed voice lessons so badly. An extremely shrill D flat pierced his thoughts.

"Muffy!" He called. The screeching stopped and relief flooded his skull.

"Yes, Griffin?" She asked brightly.

"Is it possible…for you to stop singing? I'm trying to sleep." She giggled annoyingly.

"No way, sleepyhead. It's time for you to wake up anyway." Griffin groaned as the shrieking began anew. There was no help for it; now he would have to wake up.

Lumina wasn't in the mood to play her piano this morning. The day was cold. Lumina hated cold. Lumina hated the heat, too. She sat on her wooden piano seat and stared at her sheet music moodily. She didn't feel like playing a happy song. She was far too irritated today. She didn't want to play a funeral march. She didn't feel _that_ emo…oh to heck with it. She stood up and marched towards the door. She was stopped before she got there.

"Lumina! What are you doing?" That was Romana, her grandma.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm leaving." Her Grandma immediately puffed up.

"No you are not, young lah-dee!" She pronounced lady in a weird way. Lumina stopped and turned around slowly.

"What's wrong with me today?" She asked in a bored way.

"Your hair is unbrushed. A young lah-dee never goes outside with unbrushed hair." This was an odd statement. Romana's hair stood out in clumps from all around her bun. Lumina rolled her eyes and continued out the door, ignoring Romana's indignant calls. Her piano sense never lied. This day wasn't going well already.

Nami was dreaming of soft music. The music was of the guitar selection and was accompanied by singing. The words were about a soft breeze blowing through a man's hair. The redhead smiled in her sleep.

Suddenly, her pleasant dream was interrupted by a violent shaking. She frowned and turned over. Something hit her head in a very un-gentle way. She scowled and turned the other way. Her dream music was fading…

She opened her eyes. Lumina was standing over her, looking like a storm cloud turned human. Nami sat up and blinked stupidly. Why was her friend in her room at 9:00 in the morning? That was an unholy hour to be awake.

"Lumina, what the heck are you doing in my room?" Lumina smiled evilly and replied,

"I didn't feel like waiting until you woke up." Nami growled deep in her throat. The emotional musician should have known better. You didn't wake Nami up unless there was a threat of fire, flood, hurricanes, death or a combination.

But now that she was awake, she was awake for good. It was no use trying to go back to sleep. The two clumped down the stairs towards the kitchen. At least there was breakfast to look forward too.

Ruby was having a great morning. This was the time of day she liked best, simply because Nami wasn't around to bug the fire out of her. Why did Nami irritate Ruby? It was because:

She slept too late. Ruby didn't like that.

She always waited for Ruby to make her lunch. Ruby didn't like that either.

She never put up her dishes. Ruby _especially_ didn't like that.

She was…Nami. Nami was just an irritating little person in Ruby's book.

Ruby sipped her coffee happily and looked at the clock. Nine o'clock. That gave her approximately two and a half happy hours until Nami woke up. The door opened behind her. She looked over, expecting Tim to walk through.

Nami strode into the kitchen. Ruby stood up with a smile that evaporated as soon as the redhead was identified. _Why, oh why was she up at this hour? _Thought the corpulent cook.

"Any chance of getting breakfast around here?" _So now she was ordering me to make her breakfast as well as lunch._ _How exciting_. Ruby was not about to go dance the swim over it. She put on a simpering smile and began to heat a skillet. She hoped Lumina wouldn't…

"Can I have some, too?" Lumina asked. Ruby turned around and smiled out an 'of course!' _Someday…_she thought. The eggs were cracked fiercely, and the bacon slapped down in the pan. The two girls chatting moodily at the table did not notice the mistreatment of the breakfast food.

This is where I shall insert out new friend. His name is Jack. Jack is a hunk, a sweet hunk. What will the girls think of him? Will Ruby, (in her mentally weakened state) stab him with a skewer? Let's find out.

Jack nearly tripped down the last few feet of the path to the valley. _Wow_, he thought, _this road is steep_. He finally cleared the slope and came into the main road, Forget-Me-Not Street as the townies called it. The valley really was amazingly beautiful, especially not that it was late fall and the leaves had turned. Jack sighed with satisfaction. This already looked like home.

_Where to now?_ He thought. I'm not sure where my farm is… Jack's eyes rested on a large wooden building. The wooden planks were very weather-beaten, but not unkempt. _That looks like as good a place as any_. He hoisted his backpack up on his shoulders and headed towards it.

Nami had just finished her breakfast. For some reason, her stomach was slightly upset. Maybe it was some spice Ruby used, because it was mainly her cooking that caused it. She stood up, leaving the plate on the table. Ruby eyed her retreating back, and made a furious gesture behind her back. _So that one didn't work either…_she thought. (Trust me; she had special reason to ask.)

Lumina sat down in the foyer of the Inn, waiting for Nami to run upstairs and grab her notebook. Nami never went anywhere without her notebook. The front door opened, Lumina turned, and stared into the most adorable pair of brown eyes she had ever seen. Love at first sight…at least for the girl. His eyes matched his cocoa-brown hair. She was smitten. _Wow. Hello, handsome. _

The first thing Jack noticed when he walked into the Inn was the sharp smell of the cooking food. The spicy fragrance made his eyes smart, and he blinked a few times to rid himself of it. He felt eyes on his person, and twisted around to find the source. There it was a girl, sitting on a bright red and orange chair. She had attractive caramel colored hair and wide hazel eyes.

Nami stuffed her notebook in her pocket and left her room. Before descending the stairs, however, she passed Rock's room.

"Hey, you!" She yelled into the room. "Get up!" There. If she had to suffer, he had to too. Already she could hear groans from inside the bedroom. She thumped down the stairs as noisily as she could.

Jack's attention was stolen away from Lumina by the bumping coming from the stairwell. A wad of scarlet hair emerged, followed by a surly looking girl in khakis and a blue button down shirt. The moment her baby-blue eyes met his, he felt a tingle in his gut. She was pretty in an emo kind of way. Jack found himself staring at her and quickly averted his eyes.

Nami noticed his wide-eyed stare.

"What the heck are you staring at?" She asked rudely. Jack shook his head roughly.

"I'm sorry. I-I came here to find out where my…um…my new farm was." Lumina piped up from the chair.

"Oh! You must be Jack! I heard it from Romana, who heard it from Chris, who heard it from Takakura that you were coming to take over the farm. Welcome!" She rose quickly and blushed. Nami looked unimpressed.

"I know where that is." She paused for effect. "I suppose that you want us to show you?" Jack smiled shyly.

"If you wouldn't mind showing me." Nami shrugged and led the way out the door. If you were going to walk with someone, it might as well be someone reasonably cute. Lumina tracked after, still completely awestruck by the brunette hottie now following her best friend.

Muffy had finished mopping the floor, washing the glasses, scrubbing the counters and delivering aspirin to Griffin. She was now occupied in watching aimlessly out the window. Movement attracted her gaze. Lumina was following a boy with spiky brown hair who was following Nami. That was something you didn't see everyday. Muffy ran to the phone that her foster father had recently installed. Hey, the town may not have had TVs, but they at least had phones.

Celia was giggling hopelessly to herself, remembering what had occurred about an hour ago. Marlin had exited his small house, only to be greeted by the age-old trick of the water bucket over the doorframe. That water had been sitting out ever since last night, and boy was it cold! These autumn evenings were no joke in temperature.

When Marlin had received a pajama-full of frigid water he knew instantly who did it. But there was nothing he could do about it, Vesta was laughing along with his farm hand culprit. Instead, he silently went back inside to change clothes. Inside, he chuckled a bit to himself, but he would rather eat the metal bucket the water was contained in, as opposed to admitting that Celia was amusing.

The phone rang, jerking the girl back to the present. She dusted off her hands, ran to the kitchen and answered it.

"Hello?" Muffy's energetic voice filled the receiver.

"Celia! Guess what! I just saw Nami and Lumina following this guy!" Celia sighed.

"What's your point?" Muffy was known for overreacting to stupid things.

"All I can say is that he's new and he's hott." Now this was her language. The brunette grinned.

"Be right there, my friend."

Nami led Jack into a spacious farm. There was a large barn, a shed, a chicken coop and a storage hut. Right away he noticed something was missing.

"Where's the house?" Nami smiled, looking like the cat the got the mouse.

"That's your house." She pointed to the storage hut. Jack stared at it. Surely she was kidding.

"Are you sure?" He asked hopefully. She nodded.

"I used to hang out in there when old man Takakura wasn't looking." Jack sighed resignedly. His new farm everything he hoped for and a bundle of flapjacks. (Come now, my fantastic reader, can't you recognize sarcasm when it bites your nose?)

Two figures came running up. One had brown hair, like he himself had, and one had bright, brilliant blonde curls. The curly one giggled and grinned, showing two rows of shiny white teeth. The brunette elbowed the blonde knowingly.

"I'm Celia." She offered. "This is Muffy. We saw that you were new…and wanted to know if you'd show us around your farm…." Jack had to take the offer. Who could resist giving four babes a tour of your new pad? Jack for one, could not.

The tour lasted nearly the entire afternoon. Nami had to stop and make notes concerning structure almost every minute. Jack was introduced to his new cow, named Betsy. It was obvious from the beginning that Betsy did not like Jack. That became apparent after the third nip and the fifth "accidental" hoof on his toe.

The girls were persuaded to leave when Jack's stomach started to growl. He had a wonderful night in his shed to look forward to…Celia led the way out. Jack's eyes followed the shock of cardinal hair as it left. _Happy First Friends Here, Jack_.

That night, beautiful, floating music filled the town, along with soft-spoken lyrics. Lumina was apparently back in the mood for her music.


	4. Delicious Pyromaniacality

**I'm sorry that I haven't updated lately. You'll just have to wait a while for the next chapter in SoL, sorry! Keep those reviews coming!**

**CHAPTER THREE: Delicious Pyromaniacality**

Chris was on her way back from work. Today had been an especially stressing day. She had been ordered to make well over ninety calls to her client's various contacts. It was amazing how many nasty tempers could be found through the office phone. Mr. Crant had even had the nerve to slam the phone down…Chris's ears were still ringing.

She passed Jack's farm on her way home. The boy had been here for over a week now and was adjusting very well. His pasture had begun to grow thick with farm grass, and his large field was sporting a lone peach tree. Of course, this didn't even remotely interest the women of Forget-Me-Not. Both Chris and Samantha, the local housewives, were far too excited to see which of the feminine gender would be chosen by the new farmer-boy.

This was the next to last day of autumn, which meant that Celia, Vesta and Marlin would be busy uprooting the old plants from this season, making ready for winter's potatoes. Pulling the hardy vegetables from the soil wasn't the most pleasant of tasks. Muffy would have been horrified at the dirt accumulating under Celia's fingernails at this very moment. Marlin was yanking at the stalks furiously, often leaving substantial roots in the field; he would be scolded for that later.

Muffy herself was completely absorbed in switching her wardrobe over to winter. She held up one floor length skirt after another, scrunching up her face and comparing the different colors to her skin. While she might have been appalled at the mud-spattered Celia, Celia would have died of boredom by now. It was hard to believe that the two were really best friends.

Lumina was composing her third song of the week on the piano. Her mood had been angelic for reasons that Romana could only wonder at. Lumina's hair had been combed to shiny perfection, (even by her grandma's standards), her dress had actually been ironed and her nails had been filed with a careful hand. Yes, my friends, this was indeed the dastardly effects of that little trick called love. Her puppy-dog feelings toward Rock were nothing as compared to the new bewilderment that the spiky-haired farmer invoked every time he smiled at her.

Her girlish heart fluttered as she recalled the day that he had walked into the Villa.

"I heard some beautiful music from down the hill!" He had announced. "Was that you?" Lumina had blushed and nodded.

"Would you like to hear some?" She asked meekly. Jack smiled a warm smile and nodded emphatically. She stretched her hands, flipped to a song of her own composition and played like she had never played before. Her fingers danced and skimmed across the yellowed keys, producing a sweet sound that thrilled Jack. The boy had a weakness for piano music. Ever since that afternoon, Lumina might occasionally be surprised by a drop-in from him.

The same Jack was in fact, plotting in his dark shed at that time. His house was not very comfortable, as far as houses go. There was no kitchen, no bed, no bathroom and no living room. He had been forced to sleep on a few discarded bags of mulch, not a very cozy or delicious smelling bed. Jack was drawing lines down on a large sheet of paper. If we look closely under the bend of his arm, we can see that it resembles a child's drawing of strangely connected squares.

A spider dropped down onto the paper. He marked another slash on a tiny graph to the side of the paper. This particular bug brought the score up to…twenty-four creepies that had fallen somewhere on his person. He had this feeling that there were at least three hundred more in the rafters, all lining up to take a jump. He slashed one more line on his paper and then stood up. Plotting time was over.

Nami was standing slightly inside the door to her balcony, listening to Gustafa strum on his guitar. The chords were handled masterfully, flowing from one note to another, unlike some she had heard, who were choppy when they played. She inched out a bit further onto the balcony. Gustafa's love of nature…attracted her for some reason. She would find herself thinking about him at random times of the day. This was confusing. Nami had never even had a crush, not when she was a child and not when she was an adult. Such feelings were foreign to the redhead. And what was she to do about that pesky farmer? He kept…oh…looking at her! How terrible of him.

Chris was in the midst of scolding both Wally and Hugh over the cleanliness of the house, when a strange smell crossed their noses. Why, it smelled like…smoke! What could be burning? Wally poked his head out the door, (glad to steal away from the nagging Chris) and brought it back in.

"Oh, it's only that new boy's house burning. It's nothing big." Chris began to continue scolding, but stopped abruptly.

"What? His house is burning?!?!? Oh, gosh!" She re-opened the door and dashed out of it. Wally followed reluctantly, thinking wistfully of the sports magazine lying on the table. He knew that he should have dated Janet…

Jack eyed his handiwork, a bright, lively blaze. There is nothing like a fire to bring the town running. Of course, he would have to stay at the Inn while his new house was being built…and who was staying at the Inn but Nami? What a perk. He gets a new house, a room near Nami, a sympathy vote and lots of fun burning things down! Jack liked Forget-Me-Not Valley more every day.

As it was, Celia reached Jack's farm first. She started to tote water, but was stopped by a falsely somber farmer.

"It's no use. We'll just have to let it burn. Thanks anyway, though." She nodded and dropped the bucket. Muffy skidded into his land, panting. She had forgotten to take off the six skirts and three blouses that she had been trying on. All the layers made her look like a fat scarecrow. She ran up to the pair and cried,

"Is this ash going to stain my hair?" Both Celia and Jack gave her a _look_, which she completely did not understand. "Well?" She reiterated.

"No, Muff. It will not stain your precious hair." Celia said dryly. Muffy looked relieved.

"Oh, okay. No harm done then." Celia again gave Muffy that _look_.

"What? No harm done? His house burnt down!" She shouted, while Jack innocently tossed in some of the mulch sacks that had been piled around the shack. He hoped it would keep the fire burning. He wanted absolutely nothing left of his shack.

Nami, Lumina, Chris, Wally and half a dozen others were now making their way into his property. The older adults chattered amongst themselves, while Nami pushed her way to the flames. Jack watched curiously while she rooted around in her backpack, finally coming up with a squashy package. He peeked over her shoulder and saw…

"Marshmallows. Would you like one?" She offered cordially. Hugh snatched it off of her stick before Jack could reply.

"Oooh…marshmallows. I love marshmallows, but mom says that I'm not allowed to eat 'em. I can't think why, though. She says that I'm too hyper when I eat sugar. I disagree. I'm not hyper. Do you think I'm hyper? Boy, these marshmallows are really good. They're sweet and sticky and chewy and yummy. One time I had this, like, marshmallow flavored cake and it tasted more like plain old vanilla cake to me. It didn't taste like marshmallows at all. Those people were liars. I bet they didn't even use marshmallows! Do you like how marshmallow sounds? I could say it all day—marshmallow, marshmallow, marshmallow. How do you think it would sound backwards? Wollamhsram. That sounds weird. Thanks for the marshmallow, though, Nami. Can I have another one?" This monologue was said at super-high speed, while jumping up and down and chewing a mouthful of mallow. Nami denied the boy more and he ran away, disappointed. She did, however, toast another one for Jack, whose first mallow had been stolen by the sugar-obsessed Hugh.

While calmly holding the sweet next to the flames, she asked him over her shoulder,

"So, why'd you burn down your own house?" Jack colored slightly.

"Did you call that old thing a house? It was like a torture cell. One day I counted exactly seventy-nine bugs that fell on me while I was trying to sweep it out. I had to sleep on mulch sacks." Nami shrugged.

"I wasn't blaming you. The bugs were nice to do experiments on, though." Jack backed away carefully from her. That girl scared him more and more often.

If Jack had known what he was getting himself into when he asked for a room at the Inn, he never would have done it. No, he did not get to room with Nami. No, no and no. Instead, he was compelled to share a space with the ever-charming Rock.

Rock's room had mirrors hung up from every angle, so that at any one place, the blonde boy could see how the back of his hair looked. When Jack brought his suitcase into the reflective area, Rock insisted that he store them in the attic, so as not to obstruct any of Rock's field of vision. Jack grudgingly agreed, earning even more bugs in his already infested bag. The Narcissistic Rock also needed fashion advice.

"Tell me, does this strand of hair look better tucked behind my ear in a tidy way, hanging loose like a free spirit, or hanging in my eyes, kind of like…a rebel hair? I'm thinking that if I put this strand here, and that strand there…I'll look like a hott loner who just goes with the flow. Agreed? Man, how can this mirror stand the sight of my ultimate manliness? My good looks are too dashing for any mortal mirror to withstand." This sort of talk went on and on and on until Jack was forced to run back to his barn and hide. Even then, Rock still pursued him, calling,

"Wait! I want to know what you think of the length of my pants!" Jack huddled deeper in the corner. Betsy eyed him distrustfully and swished her tail in a very concerning kind of way. All at once, she trotted over and placed her hoof decidedly on the farmer's outstretched fingers. He gave a wild yelp and withdrew his bruised hand sharply. That cow was out to kill him!

Another not-too-well known fact was that Rock talked in his sleep, saying things like,

"…I'm way too gorgeous…can't stand it…" until Jack was ready to beat him over the head with a pillow.

Winter was underway before his house was ever finished. Muffy had finally decided on which selection of outfits to dress herself in, much to Celia's relief. Changes of seasons were heartaches to her. Muffy second-guessed every decision made by her friend, finally doing exactly what she wanted and not paying any attention to Celia's critiques. But she still insisted that the fashion-challenged farm hand assist the supermodel wanna-be.

It was now the middle of winter. Jack's house was almost ready to be moved in, but still needed some polishing. As for Jack himself, he didn't care whether or not it was ready to be lived in. He just wanted to get away from Rock, who had appointed the unwilling farmer as his "Gorgeousness Consultant". Nami spent a good thirty minutes every day sitting with Gustafa next his yurt, playing in harmony on a miniature harp that the hippie possessed.

Jack had been rolling around an idea in his mind. What would Nami say if he…oh, say…asked her if she'd like to take a walk with him? Would she say yes, or would she shoot him down?

"I'll never know if I don't try." He said to himself. He combed his hair in one of Rock's many mirrors and exited the Inn, heart thumping. Now where was he to find Nami? She was hard to keep tabs on, she took walks here and there and never told anyone where she was going to be, not even Lumina. The sound of stringed instruments floated past him in the frosty breeze. Jack peeked around the side of the Inn…and was greeted with the sight of Nami and Gustafa playing "Silent Night" in perfect harmony, Gustafa on guitar and Nami on harp. The redheaded traveler was looking happier than Jack had ever seen her…and every now and then she'd look up and smile at Gustafa. What a smile it was, too. Jack knew that smile and he knew what it meant.

Nami loved Gustafa.

Bewildered, he brought his head back around the Inn wall and walked casually in the direction of the Springs. That was certainly not what he had hoped to see.

---------------------------------------------

Oooh...what will happen???? What experiments did Nami perform on those unfortunate bugs? R and R please!


	5. Of Lumina and Stone Oil

_Hiya guys! I know that I've taken forever to update this story. But it's finally here. Enjoy and review, please!_

CHAPTER FOUR: Of Lumina and Stone Oil

Jack twitched twice. His house was finally finished and he stood in front of it, flanked by Muffy, Celia, Marlin, Rock, Lumina…and Nami. Gustafa hadn't come with her because he didn't like crowds--or that's what he said anyway. Jack felt that seven could hardly be called a crowd. All the same, he was secretly glad that the hippie had stayed back at his yurt. Gustafa and Nami weren't dating…Nami was too shy to ask him and he never even hinted at anything like that.

Celia cleared her throat. "Are you going to go inside or are you going to stare all day?" Jack nodded and pulled the door open. The inside smelled like wood and new carpet; a comforting and homey smell. Rock sniffed the air and sighed.

"Man, the only smell better is my Mom's cooking! You need some more mirrors in here, Jack my friend. There's only one in the entire house!" He exclaimed, stepping in front of the wall-length mirror that was hung next to the dresser. Muffy squealed with delight and joined him in front of it, to primp, preen and bat eyelashes at the blonde boy who threw his arm around her shoulders, much to her delight.

Nami silently walked across the room and peered into the kitchen. "This is a very professional-looking kitchen. The stove looks like something from science fiction." Lumina entered it and ran a hand over the handle of the refrigerator.

"It does! Look, the ice comes out of the door!" Obviously the town was lacking slightly in technology. An ice-maker was big news. "Ruby's fridge doesn't even have that feature." She said admiringly. Nami smirked an odd sideways smile. Jack blushed and turned away. There was no telling what he would do under the influence of that smile. As they left Jack's house, Celia turned to Muffy and jerked her head towards Lumina.

"You know what I think? I think Little Miss Lumina has fallen in love with the farmer boy!" Muffy's eyes widened and she lifted her eyebrows.

"What makes you think that?" She asked quietly. Celia pointed towards the house. Jack was sweeping off the porch and Lumina was just standing beside him, blushing and grinning from ear to ear whenever he talked to her. The boy finished his job and pulled her into a brotherly hug. She returned it, her face shining and her eyes closed in the perfection of such a hug.

Muffy turned back to Celia. "I think you're right. She's never looked like that before." Celia smiled a tiny smile that was almost envious. Muffy, who was never one for details, just ran to catch up to Rock and spread the gossip. Nami, however, had been eavesdropping and walked over to the perturbed farmhand.

"What's with the face? Are you jealous of Lumina's attentions?" She snickered at the idea. "I don't think you stand much of a chance. Lumina's dress isn't caked with mud from who-knows-what-era."

Celia scowled at her. "No, I'm not jealous of Jack. I'm…oh never mind." She started to walk away. Nami followed her, curious.

"No, go ahead. Tell me. It's not like I've got something better to listen to…" She looked back to make sure that the others were still occupied. Celia swallowed and then burst out.

"I'm just…lonely, I guess! I mean, Muffy has Rock and Lumina has Jack and _you_ even have Gustafa! What have I got? Plants! That's right! Cornstalks!" She kicked a tuft of grass with a vengeance. Nami's face had turned scarlet at the whole she-and-Gustafa bit, but her voice stayed calm.

"What about Marlin?" She asked, eyebrow cocked.

Celia snorted. "Mr. Grouchybutt? As if." She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. Nami gave a secretive smile and poked Celia's side.

"Then steal Jack from Lumina." She then hurried off. Celia watched her go and couldn't help laughing a bit at the idea.

It rained that night, big sloppy drops all over the valley. Muffy called Celia and invited her over to the Bar to spend the night. Celia suggested that they also invite Lumina and Nami…to liven things up a bit. Muffy agreed eagerly. Thirty minutes later, the three girls arrived at the Bar and ascended the steps to Muffy's loft room. Nami looked dubious, as if she doubted that spending the night with these three girls could be any fun whatsoever. Lumina plopped down on the floor immediately.

"What are we going to do?" She asked Celia, who looked to Muffy, who thought about it for a moment.

"We are going to play truth or dare." She announced. "Truth or Dare, Celia!" Celia squirmed before replying.

"Er…truth." Muffy clapped her hands.

"Who do you like best in the town?" She asked her friend.

Celia gulped before answering. "J-Jack, I guess," Lumina scowled at her reply. Celia turned to her.

"Truth or Dare, Lumina?"

"Dare!" She replied boldly. Nami smirked and Muffy giggled.

"I know just the dare for you, Lumina." Muffy squealed.

Moments later, a large glass filled with a clear liquid was plunked down in front of Lumina, who sniffed it and recoiled. "What's that?" She asked warily. Muffy just smiled.

"I dare you to drink it. All of it." She said cheerfully. Lumina scrunched her nose and picked the glass up. Nami snickered as she tipped the cup up and chugged all of the contents down, seeming to enjoy it. When it was empty, Lumina put it down and wiped her mouth. Muffy bust out laughing, joined by Nami. Celia and Lumina both inquired as to what was so funny.

"Do you know what that was?" Nami asked her quietly, her shoulders shaking with mirth. Lumina shook her head no. Muffy tried unsuccessfully to contain the giggles, but managed to choke the words out.

"It was…it…was…Stone Oil!" Celia gasped and Lumina turned pale.

"Oh, no…" Celia's eyes were huge. She glanced at the musician with a pitying look on her tanned face. "What a terrible thing to do, Muff!" She scolded her best friend. Nami continued to laugh.

The effects of the drink were obvious a little while later. You see, my beloved reader, Stone Oil happens to be the most alcoholic drink in the entire Forget-Me-Not Valley; Lumina had drank an entire glass of it. Combining the amount and the fact that her body is petite…well…you get the picture.

"And thennn I sawwws Nahmee ssssstarin' at thet Hip-pee guyyyy…wuss his nammme…yeeeuh, Gussstopherrr. Shhhhee wasss jesstt sittin' thure neeerlee droolinnng at theee sights of heem playinnng hiss getarr!" She slurred out, giggling like a maniac. Nami was blushing like fire, wishing to the Harvest Goddess that she hadn't allowed her friend to drink the Oil. Lumina continued, to the delight of Muffy. "Thattt Jackk g-guyyy is so _cuttte_. Haf yuu seeeen himmm? Hiz fayce's dayng adohraybull!" She turned to Celia. "Lisssen heeere, Misssssssy! Hee's MYNE, yah heeere? MYNE." She set off into another fit of giggling. "Ohh! Did I tellll yuu? Onccceee I reeaad Seeleuh's dyeuhree byy axidennnt. Did I teeell yuuu thaht hurrr nayme isss reeely Farlaht? I din't knowww thaaht unteel I reeeeadd ittt!" Everybody turned to look at the brunette.

"What did she say?" Muffy asked her. "Fairlight? Is that your name?" Celia looked horrified for a moment…then nodded. Nami asked for an explanation. Celia could hardly hear her for Lumina guffawing in the background.

"…umm…actually, she's right. I don't know where she got my diary from, though…" She tried to act unconcerned. "I sort of changed my name after my parents left me at the Inn in Mineral Town. It was my mother's name and I didn't want to think about her." Celia's eyes were dark. "Don't say anything about it, okay? My name is Celia." The girls nodded understandingly. Uncomfortable silence was broken by Muffy.

"I know what we can do! Let's prank call on Jack's house and ask him a Truth or Dare. " Nami's face sparkled with pleasure at that idea.

"You make the parties fun, Muffy." She complimented the blonde. Suddenly, loud mumblings were heard from behind her. Lumina had fallen asleep on the floor and was talking in her sleep. The girls crept out quietly, so as not to wake her.

Jack was jerked out of sleep by his door being pounded on. Not thinking, he stumbled over to the door and answered it, still wearing his boxers. He jumped when it was opened to reveal three girls, Muffy, Celia and Nami. They all turned red at the sight of his boxers--except for Nami. She merely rolled her eyes. Not noticing his lack of wardrobe, Jack frowned upon his visitors.

"What the heck are you doing here? It's one o'clock in the morning." He chastised. The girls gave Cheshire cat grins. Celia stepped forward.

"We were having a sleepover and we wanted you to join the fun! Truth or Dare?" She asked him.

Jack didn't particularly like the idea of having three caffeinated girls dare him, so he replied with a "Truth." The girls huddled for a sec, then stepped back. Celia again addressed him.

"Which one of us do you think is the prettiest?" She asked. Jack blushed and considered the situation. A long pause followed. "Well? Which one?" Celia asked again.

"Er…um…N-Nami!" He finally pushed out. The girls drew breath in one collective gasp. Muffy and Celia looked slightly ticked off, while Nami looked both angry and flattered beyond belief. Before they had time to say anything, Lumina suddenly appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

"Whyyy'd yuu guysss leeve mee? Waayyt uppp, Fahrlaht!" She giggled…and then spotted Jack. With fire in her eyes, she jumped up on the porch with him, grabbed his shoulders, pulled him down…and kissed him like there was no tomorrow. The gasp from the girls was even bigger this time. Jack floundered like a fish, struggling to free himself. Lumina finally let him go and passed out into his arms, dead drunk. The bewildered boy twitched a few times before turning to the girls.

"Wh-wh-what the HECK? Wh-what's wrong with her?" He asked, still holding her. "Ewww! Ewww!" He shrieked, sounding for all the world like a little boy. "And why does she taste like Stone Oil?" Jack sighed.

Nami chuckled. "Funny you should mention that…" She scratched her head. "Give her to me." Jack was only too happy to oblige. "I'll fill you in tomorrow. Good night, Jack." She turned and walked off, followed by the girls. Jack shook his head incredulously. This town was crazy. And what did Lumina call Celia? Fairlight? And what was with the Stone Oil?

"Oh, my gosh…Fairlight…" Jack whispered later that night, memories suddenly rushing back.


	6. Lost and Found

_I'm still not getting very many reviews… -looks sad- But maybe they'll start clearing up. Come on reviews! _

_--Starry_

**CHAPTER FIVE: Lost and Found**

When Lumina woke up on the floor of Muffy's loft the next day, she had a splitting headache and didn't remember any of the previous day's events. She woke Muffy up to ask for a Tylenol. The hostess groggily fetched her one and laid back down to sleep. Lumina did the same.

She was the last to wake later that morning. When she opened her eyes, the three others were staring at her. She rubbed her face blearily and tried to smile a bit.

"Hi, guys. Why are you staring at me? Did I fall asleep during the party?"

Celia gasped. "She doesn't remember!"

"Remember what?" Lumina asked nervously.

Nami shook her head and started to descend the stairs from the loft. "She'll remember. Give it time."

Ten minutes later when the quartet were eating breakfast, Lumina remembered. She shrieked and put a hand to her lips, as if reliving the past. "Oh no!" She cried. "Is _that_ what you were talking about? Oh...no...no…no, I didn't! I couldn't have…why did you give me that drink? And now Jack will know…ohhh…I've got to apologize…!" She dropped her toast and ran out the door, barefoot and with hair flying everywhere.

For the second time in less than a day, Jack was awoken by the door being pounded on by a female. He peeked out of a window and spotted the girl. His shoulders tensed up. _Oh, dear heavens, she's back! Now what do I do?!? _He worried to himself. After looking skyward for a few moments, he opened the door. Lumina burst into tears.

"J-Jack…I'm s-so s-sorr-rry! I d-didn't know wh-what I was d-doing! M-Muffy tricked me into d-drinking that s-stuff…please f-forgive me and d-don't hate me forever!" She sobbed out. Jack found it hard to be upset as the girl nearly melted into a sad puddle of goo on his porch. He pulled her into a purely platonic hug and nodded.

"Forget about it. But you know…people are never more truthful than when they are drunk." Lumina blushed deeply and shuffled her feet.

"I guess I'm no different. Do you…I mean…would you like to take a walk with me?" She asked him. He considered it and quickly agreed. She grinned and began to walk wordlessly.

Nami was sitting beside Gustafa on a log. Her face was serious and mirthless as she watched him spread paint on a canvas. He eventually noticed her lack of animation and put his paintbrush in a jar of water.

"What is on your soul, my friend? I haven't seen you this quiet in a long time." He asked, sitting down beside of her. She shifted uncomfortably.

"Gustafa…have you ever liked someone?" She asked him slowly.

"Of course! I like everyone in this town. It helps you get in tune with yourself and with nature!" Nami shook her head.

"Not like that. You know…like as in _like._ An affinity. Something more than just friendship." Gustafa gave a teasing smile.

"Oh? Has little Nami developed feelings for one of the free souls in our midst? Who is it?" He asked, quite interested. Nami looked disbelieving.

"You…you don't know?" She swallowed and took a deep breath. "Why…it's…it's _you._ Didn't you know that?" Gustafa looked thunderstruck, very out of character for the usually sunny man.

"You don't mean it, do you?" He asked her. Nami paused before nodding. He leaned back and scratched his head. "Nami, I don't know what to say. I-I didn't mean to mislead you in any way by spending time with you. Nami, I promised myself that I would never marry and would devote my time to nature instead. I don't break promises." He finished, looking pityingly at her. Her face turned white.

"There isn't any way…?" She asked quietly, barely above a whisper. Gustafa shook his head gravely.

Jack and Lumina were walking down the path and happened to end up beside the stream…within hearing distance of Gustafa and Nami's conversation. As he watched the water gurgle by, he couldn't help but hear snippets of the exchange. When Nami finally came out and admitted that she liked Gustafa, his mouth dropped open. Lumina glanced up at him.

"What's the matter?" He looked towards the pair sitting by the yurt and signaled for her to be quiet. Lumina shrugged. "Oh, I've known that she likes him for years. Anyway, there's something I'd like to ask you. Jack? Are you listening?" He nodded, but was too interested in what was being discussed.

"I'm sorry Nami. I'm already in love with a woman. Her name is nature." Nami nodded mutely and stood up. "I'm sorry." Gustafa said sadly. She tried so hard to smile, but couldn't muster one up. After hovering for a few moments, she turned and walked away briskly towards the Inn. He shook his head again and ducked into his yurt.

Jack couldn't believe what he had heard. He felt sorry for Nami…but she had been rejected. That meant that there was nothing between she and him! He smiled a tiny secretive smile. Lumina grinned at him, misinterpreting it.

"So, Jack…would you like to…go out…you know, like on a _date_ with me sometime?" Jack barely paid attention to the question.

"Um, no." He said distractedly. Lumina's sheepish grin fell instantly.

"Wh-what?" She asked him. He craned to see where the redhead had run off to.

"Sorry, Lumina. You're…a sister to me. It…we…no. I'm sorry." She, like Nami before her, nodded her head and hovered before scampering away down the road towards the Villa. Jack sighed and ran his hand through his hair, feeling like scum. He hated breaking hearts. What should he do now? Nami needed time and that is what he would give her.

He immediately recalled the matter that had appeared last night. The 'Fairlight' issue. Jack needed talk to Celia--now. Where would he find her, though? Oh, right. Vesta's farm. The boy turned and trotted towards his destination.

Celia was enjoying the frosty wind that was gently swirling her hair around. She had always liked cold more than heat--heat was sticky, sweaty and thick. The cold was invigorating as she rubbed her arms up and down. She was surprised when Jack came barreling up to her, breathing hard.

"May I talk to you? Er, somewhere private?" He asked her. She agreed and they stepped into one of the greenhouses. Marlin scowled as they disappeared together. Once inside, Jack looked at Celia strangely. "Did Lumina call you 'Fairlight' yesterday?" He inquired, eyes huge.

Celia scowled. "Yes, she did. It was my name before I moved in with Vesta. But I am Celia--do _not_ call me that."

Jack started to bounce up and down excitedly. "D-Did your mother name you that?" He asked.

Celia stared at him. "Yes. How did you know that?!?" All of a sudden, Jack wrapped her in a huge bear hug.

"I've been looking for you for years!" He said softly. She pushed him away gently and made a confused face, to which he replied, "You're my long-lost big sister, Fairlight!"

Celia's eyes filled with tears.

Two days later, the news of Jack and Celia's newfound kinship had spread all over the valley. Marlin had been the most interested in the affair, asking questions and looking like Christmas had come early. Of course, as you should know, oh beexiquent reader, he was excited because now his girl had no cause to like Jack. Now she could turn her attentions to him. If you think about it, that's the same logic Jack used with Nami. But anyway, back to our story.

Nami and Lumina had both kept to themselves after the fateful day of rejections. Whenever they came out of their houses to eat or take a walk, they avoided the villagers and looked at the ground. Nami especially--sure, she was quiet before…but now she was the dead walking. Everyone knows that the first crush is the hardest. Lumina recovered more smoothly and even had the grace to smile briefly at the farmer boy once.

Jack had finally gathered up his courage to go talk to the redhead. He stood outside the Inn and fiddled with his work gloves, as if that really affected his appearance. After staring at his reflection in a window, he pushed open the door to the Inn and stepped inside. Knocking on her door was useless. It was unlocked, but when he peered inside, he found it completely empty of…personal things like posters, knick-knacks or even discarded clothing items. It was as if no one lived there anymore. Jack tilted his head, confused. Where was she?

Ruby was once again in her kitchen, sipping tea and grinning from ear to ear. _Hallelujah. She's gone for good! What a relief! I should celebrate. There should be a holiday every anniversary of today._ She thought, running her fingers through her hair. _I know, I'll make her least favorite food tonight, sashimi. That'll show her_. Her celebratory thoughts were interrupted by Jack's entering of the kitchen. She stood up and bowed slowly.

"May I help you on this fine day?" She simpered.

The boy nodded quickly. "Can you tell me where Nami is? Her room was empty and I was wondering…" Ruby interrupted him.

"She's gone! Can you believe it? Gone!" She squealed happily. Jack furrowed his brow in a panicked expression.

"What do you mean, 'gone'? Like…for good?" Ruby nodded excitedly. The farmer gaped, stamped his foot and dashed out of the kitchen, leaving the plump cook free to sit back down in her chaise and bask in the glow of Nami-less air. Now she didn't have to worry every morning about trying to…well…never mind.

Nami's POV

_I looked back at Forget-Me-Not for a last time, remembering with a shoot of pain…just how much I had fallen in love with the area. I remembered when I first met Lumina (Goodness, her music was terrible), I remembered when Gustafa presented me with his miniature harp (It was still in my backpack), I remembered the recent sleepover (I'd never see Stone Oil the same way again) and oddly enough, I remembered the last time I had seen that kid at Calendula Farm. He had fixed me with a gaze that was difficult to forget._

_As if conjured by my memories, Jack burst into view, running at me pell-mell from the Inn. He skidded to a stop and panted._

"_Where are you going?" He asked in an odd tone. I crossed my arms impatiently._

"_I'm not sure. Away from here." I replied carelessly. He looked up at the sky and then back at me._

"_You can't…we need you here." He tried to reason. I snorted and waved away his statement._

"_Please. Forget-Me-Not was fine _before_ I came and it will be fine _after_ I'm gone. Besides, what do you care anyway?" I asked him curiously, slightly touched at the concern._

"…_Well…_I_ need you here. To…help me with experiments. On bugs. And the other things you're great at. You can' t leave!" He was nearly pleading. I turned around and walked away from him, towards the path leading out of the valley, past Mineral Town. He didn't pursue me, he just stood there like a kicked puppy._

_The last thing I heard before I left the town was music. Gustafa's guitar music. Sweet, lilting and gentle, it swirled around my ears; twisting my emotions. I very nearly turned back, but I remembered that there was nothing to go back _to_. No family, no boyfriend…no Gustafa. Instead, I hoisted my pack and continued at a quicker pace, refusing to look over my shoulder to see if Jack was still standing there. I'd just as soon have heard some of Lumina's piano music. It wasn't as painful. But I guess that's all in the past now. As Jack once said to me, _"The past is the past. You can't hold on to it too tight, or you'll miss the present and future!"_ How right he was._

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Review! Yes! Review! Yes! Review! Yes! Re-- -is shot-


	7. Foreshadows

_This chapter contains lots of foreshadowing to not just future plot, but also to one of my MTM books. As always, thanks so much to those who reviewed. I ADORE reviews. Please don't read without reviewing. Please?_

_--Starry_

CHAPTER SIX: Foreshadows

And then she was gone. Jack blinked furiously and just stood looking at the trail where she left, waiting to see if she, by chance, might return. Minutes passed, then an hour and still she did not come back. The boy scratched his arm and turned around jerkily. It was official…he was never going to see Nami again! Unsure of what to do now, he ran off to his farm and shut himself in with Bessie. After getting a hoof in the gut, he ran off to his house instead.

Life continued on as usual in the valley in Nami's absence. Lumina cried bitterly when Jack brought her the news of the redhead's flight. Celia and Muffy sighed, Marlin scowled, Rock gasped dramatically and Gustafa looked skyward with a face full of regret. _It was his fault after all, _thought Jack to himself. _He's the one who rejected her. What a stupid thing to do! _Ruby took great pains to clean Nami's room well, as if washing the taint of her away.

A week later, Jack was eating Wheatie-Os and watching the morning news when the station made an interesting announcement. The main news anchor declared that the old weather reporter was retiring. "We will mourn the loss of our dear Mr. Bryce, but to take his place is another girl fresh from the country! Let's give a warm welcome to Flowerbud Village's new Miss Nami! Welcome! The weather is all yours."

"No way!" The farmer screeched as the screen switched to an overview of Flowerbud Village, Forget-Me-Not Valley, Amarillo Bay and Mineral Town with Nami in front. She looked surly as usual, but was wearing a flattering blue skirt suit instead of her regular mismatched outfit.

"Thank you, Don," She said with a happy note in her voice. "Let's see where the weather finds us today. Flowerbud Village should be unseasonably warm today, with temperatures in the fifties until nightfall. Amarillo Bay will be even warmer, but that's only natural with the high pressure system hovering most of the area. The high should be 62, the low fifty-one. Mineral Town will be getting snow today with temperatures in the twenties. That's good for any kids wanting to sled down Mother's Hill. Last but not least…Forget-Me-Not Valley will experience a cold and dry day with temperatures ranging from the high thirties to the mid twenties. Thank you all for welcoming me, back to you, Don." She managed a smile before the camera returned to the reporter. Having spilt a lot of milk on the rug, Jack ran into the kitchen to grab some paper towels to sop up the soggy carpet.

Ruby was most displeased to hear Nami's voice over the radio as she mopped the floor. Someway or another that girl was bound and determined to bother her. In a sudden fit of temper, she threw the radio on the floor and began to beat it with the mop, sending rivulets of water all over the walls and stove. Rock chose that moment to step into the kitchen and request a glass of juice. That was too much for the corpulent chef. She grabbed her son's collar and dragged him out of the Inn.

"And stay out! From now on you won't be allowed back in until you have a job," She yelled. "A job that pays. Don't bother crying, Mommy's not listening!" He just sat there, worried about the dust all over his pants as she stalked back inside. When his sadly slow brain realized that he'd been kicked out, he gasped.

"I didn't even have time to grab my mirror," He squeaked. "What if she messed up my amazing hair? I should go ask Muffy." He carefully dusted himself off and scampered to the Blue Bar.

Muffy was cleaning a tumbler when the blonde boy burst into the room and demanded to know how his hair looked. She scrutinized it with a practiced eye before announcing that he needed to tuck a strand behind his ear, but otherwise it was fine. He sighed with relief and immediately remedied the un-tucked hair. "So, what's new, Rock?" The waitress asked, batting her long mascara-coated eyelashes.

"Nothing much, babe. Mom just kicked me out, that's all."

Muffy grabbed his shoulders. "What? Did you grab your mirror?" Obviously her priorities were in the same book as his.

"No, I didn't," He said sadly. "That's why I had to ask your expert advice. Thanks, Muff."

"It's no problem," She crooned. "You ask me anytime you feel like it. I should get you a drink for being so brave and surviving a kick-out! Did you get dirt on your clothes?" Rock nodded morosely and she began pouring something orange into a glass.

Speaking of dirt on clothes, Celia was in the midst of smacking the mud off of her favorite skirt into the Goddess Pond next to the old oak tree. She coughed and scrubbed it against a rock; streams of mud running into the water. Suddenly the pond began to bubble in the middle. The girl snatched her skirt out of the water and watched as light shone from underneath and a head covered with green braids popped out, followed by a slim, muscular body. The figure wore a stiff blue bikini top with flowy green sleeves and a dress bottom of silky blues and greens.

"Celia, dear," She said in a bossy but sweet tone. "Why are you washing your clothes in my pond? Did you know that mud makes my skin itch?"

Celia gaped. "N-no, I didn't. Er…sorry. How did you know my name?"

"I am a goddess," The Goddess said with a flourish. "I specialize in harvesting, beauty and love matters. Of course I know your name."

"Oh! Hello! You specialize in love matters? Who have you helped before? I've never seen you." Celia said with wide eyes.

The Goddess thought for a moment. "I helped Sabastian get his position in Romana's villa, I brought Nami to this valley, I made Ruby kick Rock out, I brought Marlin to Vesta's and I'm in the progress of moving a family with a little girl next to Hugh. That's about it for this area."

"You did all of those things? What about Lumina? Does she have a match? Have you worked in other places?"

"Oh yes, I have. Not too long ago I brought Joe and Katie together in Flowerbud Village. Mineral Town has always held my interest--so many delicious emotions running wild. Three years ago I had to give a dear girl named Popuri some advice about running out on her own wedding! Poor thing…and you can't forget Claire and Gray, or Karen and Rick…or the rest of the couples. There are rather a lot of them. The only trouble I've had is with Mary." She paused to arrange her skirt. "And Lumina. Most problematic."

"What's wrong with Mary and Lumina?" Celia asked, curious.

"Nothing's wrong with Mary, she's just hard to work with sometimes. I can't help Lumina, but I do feel sorry for her." The Goddess's face made an odd expression.

The farmhand was full of questions. "Why can't you help Lumina?"

"I can't help her because Miss Wi--because I just can't. It's not allowed. End of story. But is there any advice I can give you? I'm in a good mood. Three questions is all that I'll answer."

"Do I have a match?" Celia asked immediately, intrigued by the mystery and the given information.

"Yes, naturally."

"Do I know him?'

"Another yes. One more question."

The brunette considered for a moment. "Does he love me _now_? At this moment?"

"Well," The Goddess began sinking back into the pond. "He did once…but you're losing him day by day. That's all for now. Ta ta!" A few bubbles later, the water was still once more and you would never have known that a supernatural creature had sat astride it only seconds before. Her answer had confused Celia greatly. Someone had been in love with her before? But who? Why was he slipping away? She remembered the remark the Goddess had made about mud and draped her skirt over her arm for the return trip to Vesta's. So what if it was still dirty? 'A little dirt don't hurt.' As her redneck employer would say.

When night fell and Griffin informed Rock that the Blue Bar was closing, the blonde realized that he really didn't have a place to stay. Who could he go to? Who was one person that would always be his friend no matter what happened?

"Jack!" He yelled a few minutes later. He had knocked on the door multiple times and the farmer still hadn't answered. "Are you there? I need to talk to you! Don't be frightened of my manliness! Just open the door! There aren't any girls around for you to look bad next to me with!" Jack himself was hiding in the kitchen trying to ignore the sounds coming from his door. He wasn't in the mood to answer fashion questions, look at hair arrangements or let him borrow his hand mirror. Rock finally gave up knocking and loped off to the barn. It was warm in there and his friend surely wouldn't mind a _buddy _camping out for a little while.

Meanwhile, Nami was settling into her comfortable hotel room, paid for by the news station. She had tacked her maps, harp chord charts and posters of Famous Dark Ages Weapons all over the walls, making the atmosphere feel more…homey…in a way. There was a spicy smell in the air, bringing memories of Ruby's cooking, Rock's attempted jokes and Celia and Muffy's warmth. Nami laid on her bed and thought of Lumina's endearing scowl, Jack's sunny grin and his big, gloved hands…Gustafa's--no! There was no room for crazy, silly sentiments! She was never going to set foot in Forget-Me-Not Valley again. Ever.

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_If you're happy and you know it then review…If you're happy and you know it then review! If you happy and you know it and you really wanna show it…if you're happy and you know it then review!_


	8. Nothing Gold can Stay

_Well. It's been a while since I've updated this story, I'm very sorry about that. This is a sad chapter, but if you read carefully, you'll pick up lots of important information for the upcoming _Threshold. _Plus I introduce my beloved Kate--she'll have a great time in this story, you can count on that. If you want more info for what happens to Lulu after this chapter, you'll get it in a while, but check my profile for a blurb while you're waiting. Just look for Threshold. _

CHAPTER SEVEN: Nothing Gold can Stay

During the night, Jack had a dream that his cow had turned into Rock and had chased him all over the barn while throwing milkers at his head. The early morning sunlight woke the sweating boy from his nightmare and brought relief to his face. What a stupid thing to be scared of, really! Rock? Milkers? Pfft, that was the last time he watched _Morphinators: The Skin-Changers' Revenge _before going to bed. He took his time eating breakfast before leisurely walking out to the barn and standing at the back door. _Listen, Jack. When you walk into this barn, Bessie is not going to have turned into Rock. Cow's can't even hold milkers; you're being asinine. It was only a dream induced by creepy Sci-Fi B movies. Deep breath. You can do this…Nami could do this. In fact, _Nami _would be laughing herself to death if she saw you right now. Go inside the barn!_

Rock smiled and observed his appearance in Bessie's water trough. Indeed, it was a treat for the lowly cow to be able to see his handsome face first thing in the morning. He glanced at Bessie who was standing near the door. Thinking that she probably needed to go outside like a dog, he held the door open for her until she ambled out. Feeling proud of himself for figuring that out, he trotted over to her feed box and picked up a strange contraption that was lying beside it. A sticker indicated that it was a "Heavy Duty Cow Milker" bought from Hogan's Supplies. Suddenly Jack walked in though a door opposite the one that Bessie had gone through. He saw Rock and stopped, turning white. The blonde boy waved at the farmer with the hand that held the milker and watched confusedly as his friend dashed out the door again, as if he had seen a monster. Rock lowered the tool and shrugged, figuring that maybe Jack wasn't used to such hotness so early in the morning. This barn was actually a pretty sweet place to hang out for a few weeks…or months…if Jack would let him borrow his mirror.

The messy-haired farmer was too busy hyperventilating in the chicken coop amongst the chattering fowl to think logically. His dream had come true! What would Nami do? She would be brave! Nevertheless, he crawled behind the incubator and curled into a fetal position. Oh, cruel world!

Celia turned a page in a thick book labeled "High School Class--Shaywood High". Her room was filled to the moldings with fresh, clean light that bounced off of the laminated pages and into her eyes. Sighing, she closed the book and rolled over on her back, her bed creaking beneath her. Her mind was still mulling over what the Goddess had said at the pond yesterday…about how someone loved her, but was ebbing away bit-by-bit. It was so confusing. Who? It _obviously _wasn't anyone in Forget-Me-Not Valley. I mean, Rock was obsessed with Muffy, Jack was her brother, Gustafa was staying single forever and Marlin…ugh. No. Never. Why hadn't she just asked his name as a question?

Lumina sat miserably in the foyer of her Gramma's Villa. The doctor had been attending to Romana for over two hours. What was the matter with her? Romana had suddenly contracted a fever of massive proportions earlier, followed by drastic weakness of the limbs. Sebastian had found her collapsed in her room and had run for Dr. Hardy before informing Lumina. Lumina didn't care at first--so her Gramma was sick. So what? Now she wouldn't be able to fuss about messed-up hair or clothes or manners or…or…anything! Great!

But when Dr. Hardy came out for water, he told her that he really wasn't sure what the problem was. "I don't know what I can do for her…I'm trying to reduce the fever but…do you have any other family, Lumina?" He had asked her, suddenly sounding like a concerned father. Yes. She did have other family. An uncle who was in jail. But surely Romana wouldn't die. Romana was too cantankerous to die.

Muffy was cleaning counters and glaring in the Inn's direction that morning. _Throwing my Rock out. Imagine that. _She thought angrily. _Who would throw him out? He's so sweet and funny…maybe Ruby has…what's it called? Oh yeah, brain problems. _Her displeased thoughts were cut short by an angry yell from her left, in the direction of the Villa. She dropped her cloth and ran outside, high heels clicking. She ran past the Twins' loft house avoiding Patrick's adoring gaze, tripped twice on the way up the hill and finally poked her head into the huge house.

"Hello?" She called out tentatively. A moan answered the summon--Lumina was huddled in a corner, her face red. "What's the matter, Lulu?" Muffy hurried over to the girl. When she didn't respond, the barmaid sat down beside of her until Dr. Hardy appeared out of Romana's room.

"Mmm…greetings, Muffy. Did Lumina tell you why I am here?" Muffy shook her head and the doctor proceeded to tell her what had happened. "I just don't know what to say. I've never seen these symptoms in the same place before. It's like an entirely new disease. She's getting weaker and weaker…but the fever is quite gone now. Nothing seems to be causing hr illness. I don't know if it is contagious or not. You two should both leave. Where's Sebastian? He needs to be told as well." A groan from Romana's room hurried him away after he excused himself.

Lumina sat up straighter and wrinkled her brow. "Oh, I haven't seen Sebastian lately. Maybe I should go find him." Muffy turned to her and shook her head of magnificent curls.

"No, you stay here. I'll look for Sebastian, don't worry." Helping the young woman made her feel maternal, a warm, wholesome feeling. She hurried away on her task. Lumina felt her cheeks for any signs of fever and strode over to a mirror hanging on the wall. Her face was flushed with anger and her eye was twitching. Romana had always admired her remarkable golden eyes that weren't just a light brown color, they were a true, sparkling golden like the small hoop earrings that Vesta wore. Sebastian called them 'hawk eyes' and had bought her a portrait of a stately hawk as proof.

Suddenly a screech rent the air. Knowing full well what it meant, Lumina followed it slowly to it's creator. Muffy was clutching her skirts and staring at a collapsed Sebastian, whose eyes were open. Dr. Hardy barreled in through the door behind her and gaped. "Out! Everyone out! It's contagious!" He howled.

Two hours later Romana also passed. Lumina didn't know what to think. Her entire world was going to be taken from her at the leaving of her guardians. Well, not her _entire _world. " I do have one brother," She said quietly, seated at the Blue Bar counter with all of the young adults of Forget-Me-Not gathered around her, some with their hands on her shoulder, offering sympathy or just being there. (Jack was still gazing warily at Rock, though very relieved after he had learned the real truth of how his 'friend' had come to be in his barn. Celia had found him curled up behind the incubator like a scared puppy and had dragged Rock into the coop to explain.) "his name is Clifford. I believe he lives in Mineral Town, north of here. But his last letter was seasons ago…I know he's married and has a small daughter named Alex. I shall call him--I can't stay here." Lumina finished.

Marlin sighed. "You don't have to leave, though. We'll take care of you, you're like a sister to us. You wouldn't be among strangers in this valley." Celia glanced at him and raised her eyebrows. It was unusual to see him showing any kind of affection.

"No," Lumina shook her head. "it's okay, truly. I'll call Clifford tonight. He and I used to be the best of friends…until right before my parents died. He said that he needed his space, but he was only sixteen. I was eleven at the time; I didn't want him to leave, but he did anyway. But it was my fault!" She began to turn red and raise her voice in anguish. "If I had not followed my mother when she told me not to, _She _wouldn't have seen me and Cliff wouldn't have left." She then turned and fled to the back room, closing the door behind her.

Jack and Marlin left to attend their farm duties, Rock trailed behind Jack and Celia stood up and paced the floor. In the sad excitement of the day, they would forget to watch the weather channel that day and miss an important event. "What was she talking about? What was her fault?" She asked her best friend in a hushed whisper. Muffy shivered and shook her head.

"I don't know. Everything is strange today. Did you hear? Ruby threw Rock out of the Inn!" She cried, sounding wounded.

Celia made an amused grimace. "That's actually kind of…er…not funny." She changed her wording around mid-sentence when she noticed Muffy shaking with indignation. Suddenly she put her finger to her lips and pointed towards the back room's door.

Lumina had begun talking. "Hello? Is this the Camellia Inn? May I speak to Clifford Sachar?" She was silent for a minute while her brother was contacted. Then she spoke once more, hesitatingly. "Bunny? Is it really you? Yes…I know we haven't talked in a while…I know, not since I was eleven. No, I'm fine…but I need you to come pick me up. Why? Because Sebastian is dead. Of course Gramma is, too. No, I already told you that I'm fine...it was a sickness…the doctor couldn't diagnose it…I really do not want to discuss it. Will you come pick me up or not? You'll be here tonight? That's fine. I'll be waiting at the Blue Bar…don't be silly, Bunny, I don't drink. Goodbye." The phone was hung up sharply and the two eavesdroppers retreated to the bar, acting as if they'd been there the entire time.

But the girl didn't come out of the room that entire afternoon. It was around ten o'clock that night when Celia, who had been watching out the window, suddenly gave a delighted squeal. "Muff, come here! Clifford's here and boy is he a _hunk. _Holy _turnip greens…_look at that _butt_!" Her friend was at the window in a flash.

"Oh, my gosh! He's amazing! Did he dye his hair or do you think that it's natural?" The duo tried not to stare as the boy opened the door and came inside. He was dressed in dark brown slacks and a blue shirt, over which a raggedy brown jacket was worn. His dark brown hair was bleached at the tips and was long, though not ponytail length.

"Hey," Clifford said pleasantly, the girls' hearts fluttering. "I'm looking for Lumina Sachar. Is she around here?" The female in question opened the back room door and sprinted into her brother's arms. He held her tight and planted a kiss of the top of her head.

"Oh, Bunny, I've missed you," She murmured, standing back to inspect him. "you look so old!"

Clifford laughed and pulled a lock of her hair. "Thanks a lot, Lu. Now I _feel _old. Do you have all of your things?" His sister nodded her head. "Good. You'd better say goodbye to your friends, then. I have reservations at a hotel, but it's out of the valley, in Caman Plateau. I'll wait here until you return." Lumina nodded again and left the Bar resignedly.

"So is it true that you're married?" Muffy accosted Clifford hopefully. When he nodded, she pouted momentarily. "Can I see a picture?" She asked.

He grinned good-naturedly. "Sure," Out of his pocket he produced a wallet and plucked a few photographs from it. He held out one of them, a picture of a blushing redhead with one long braid, dressed in overalls. "That's Ann…but that was taken five years ago. Here's a more recent one…she's holding Alex, our daughter. She's two years old." Another snapshot found it's way into Muffy's hand. It contained the same redhead, only her hair was shoulder-length and gently curled. Instead of overalls, she was dressed in a yellow and blue dress with rick-rack all over the sleeves. In her arms was a beaming little girl with matching red hair and bright green eyes, dressed in a playsuit of green.

The three chatted lightly until Lumina returned an hour later. "I'm ready to go, Bunny," she mumbled, turning to Celia. "Goodbye, Celia. Good luck with your life. Goodbye, Muffy. I'll miss you so much…and if you ever see Nami again…tell her I said goodbye, please?" The two girls agreed sadly and hugged her tightly before she returned to her brother. He looked down at her without emotion and put his hand on her shoulder. Without another word they left the Bar and walked slowly out of the valley. Lumina would never return--alive, that is.

As if to replace the girl that was leaving, a new family passed her on their way into the Valley. Among them was a young teenaged girl with straight brown hair, partially pulled up into two bunches on the top of her head. Her eyes were bright red and her clothes were spotless and crisp, a bleached white button down blouse was tucked into a pleated royal blue skirt, matching her blue necktie and the blue ribbons in her hair. The two adults were tired looking, trudging along beside of their daughter. The woman had on a colorful kimono and her hair was in a strict bun. The man looked like he just came from an office--he was dressed in a black and white business suit. It was a strange bunch. They came to the house beside of Chris and Wally's, unlocked the door and entered.

Much later at around one o'clock in the morning, a familiar face dashed into Forget-Me-Not. She stopped and twirled, seeming to revel in the sight of her beloved home. Without a sound she ran to Jack's farm and gently turned the knob of his farmhouse door. She would sleep there tonight and surprise him in the morning--he wouldn't mind. Good old Jack.

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_Ah, who is it? You'll have to wait to find out. I promise you'll love Kate…trust me. She has an interesting history._


	9. The Sun Begins to Shine

_Another chapter for all of my fans. I love you guys--you're my inspiration. Thanks! Especially to CeliaLover25 because s/he's awesome. Hee hee hee!_

CHAPTER EIGHT: The Sun Begins to Shine

When sunlight finally decided to grace the valley with it's presence, the same young woman who had moved into the house next to Hugh was already quickstepping it to Calendula Farm. Her mousy hair was perfectly arranged, her royal blue tie was unwrinkled and her face was very set as she entered the farm. In her hand was a buzzing instrument awash with blinking lights. She held it up and did a quick sweep of the lands, making mental notes of the rising and falling numbers displayed on the backlit screen. After poking the machine into the empty doghouse, Kate nodded to herself, walked over to the farmhouse and knocked on the door.

It seems to be Jack's lot in life to have females knocking on his door early in the morning. He pulled himself out of bed and grumped over to the window. _Who in the world is that? She looks like some kind of teenaged lawyer. _Begrudgingly he opened the door and yawned. "Hi. Who are you and why are you at my house at 5:53 in the morning?"

Kate smiled tolerantly. "My name is Kate Simons-Brandy and I am thirteen years old. I am most certainly not a lawyer, although I have attended two years of college for that particular major and found it to be most repetitive."

Jack blinked. "How did you know that I thought you were a lawyer?" The girl tapped her instrument proudly. "You mean that thing can read my _mind_?!" He exclaimed.

"Yes, actually. I borrowed it from that wonderful man Daryl earlier this morning. It can read minds within a ten-foot radius--not bad, but I have seen one with a twelve-foot radius," She clicked the machine off. "Is that your wife?" She pointed to the girl that had appeared from behind Jack. The farmer spun around and gasped.

"Nami? NAMI!" It was difficult to tell who was more pleased when he threw his arms around her and twirled her in the air. "It's great to see you! What _are _you doing in my house?" He asked, his hands still on her waist.

Nami grinned and shrugged. "I blew into town last night and knew that the Inn closes at twelve. There was nowhere else to go and I remembered that you leave your door unlocked. How has--"

Kate interrupted. "Excuse me, sorry to break this little dream up, but I have a video conference with a Sultan who owes me money at eight o'clock. The reason I came down here in the first place was to be shown around your animals. Can we hurry and begin the tour?"

"I don't remember ever saying that I would show you around my farm. You might have to come back later." The boy informed her coldly.

"Jack, Jack, Jack. I will do no such thing." Kate replied.

"How do you know my name?" He queried wearily.

Kate leered nastily. "Number one, your name is monogrammed on the boxers that you are so beautifully modeling for us. Number two, my machine told me so." The little instrument was on and humming again. "It also says that you call yourself The Jackinator, The Jackster and…need I go on? If you won't give me a tour, I will have sufficient time to hack into your personal feelings file. Your folder on a certain valley female is rather extensive--it would be my pleasure to read it aloud starting with your thoughts on her bu--"

Jack quickly cut her off. "Yes. Well. Let's start…in the…barn, shall we?" Still leering, Kate allowed the farmer to put some pants on before leading her to the barn. Nami trailed behind, snickering at and questioning the conversation that had just occurred.

Rock was shaken from sleep when Nami kicked him graciously. "WHERE'S THE PEPPER?" He yelled stupidly before finding his senses--or what was left of his senses. "Oh, Jack, it's you! Nami! Where have you been? Who's that creepy girl?" Jack explained the teenager's purpose to him and proceeded to introduce Bessie, who hoofed his stomach sleepily.

The reason that Rock was still sleeping in the barn was because Jack had finally caved and offered to give him ten G a day for milking Bessie and collecting the eggs every morning. After working his new job for an hour, Rock had decided that it was far too hard on his delicate skin, so he told Hugh that he would pay him seven G a day to take over his jobs. That only left Rock three G a day, but at least he didn't have to work for it! What luck! Hugh was thoroughly thrilled and did his work joyfully. It was a good agreement for both parties.

"That thing can read minds?" Rock yelled. "Ooh! Ooh! Read my mind!"

Kate nodded curtly and lifted her instrument in front of him. After a few moments, she frowned and adjusted a dial. Finally she dropped it to her side disbelievingly. "I couldn't get a clear signal. His mind was too congested with pitiful vanity--then when I did finally hack in…it was completely file-free. I've never seen that before."

Rock grinned. "Does that mean I'm smart?"

"Sure it does, Rock." Nami sighed. "Sure it does."

"I knew it!" The blonde boy smiled beatifically and ran his fingers through his hair Kate glared at him and walked up to Bessie. Surprisingly, the cow became meek and gentle, nudging the girl's hands lovingly. Jack raised his eyebrow and backed up a bit.

"You don't know how weird that is…she's never nice to anyone." He then approached the cow slowly and put his hand out. Bessie instantly tensed up and stepped on his foot heavily. "OUCH!" He yelped. Kate just smiled at him and left the barn, heading towards the chicken coop.

After holding two chickens upside down for thirty seconds each, Kate tucked her machine into a knapsack and shook Jack's hand dutifully. "Brilliant. Your animals are brilliant. In fact, most of them are smarter than the blonde boy." She motioned to Rock who was picking his nose. "I'm sure you won't mind if I return, will you? I need to ask the youngest chicken a few questions about the Coop Egg Scandal…I'm considering writing a book on the subject."

"So now you can talk to chickens? I guess I won't mind…you can come anytime you'd like…just don't spy on me or anything…" Jack was contemplating having a stiff drink or two at the Blue Bar.

The teenager flashed him a youthfully flirtatious smile. "Spy? On you?" She studied her shoes for a second, finally meeting his eyes again, her face straight but her piercing red eyes giggling like the little girl shackled inside. "Sir, I never _spy._" She then turned on her heel and escorted herself out of his property, her hair glinting in the early morning sun. The others were left to ponder the meaning of her emphasis.

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_Sometimes I wish I could turn into a bird and fly far away from this boring valley. I would be a dove…or maybe a bluebird. What's the name of that pink bird? Oh, right, a flamingo. Yeah, that's it! I would be a flamingo and I would fly to the movie studio and become famous so everyone would know my name and Griffin would be so proud. That's exactly what I'll do! _Muffy became so caught up in her fantasy that she rushed outside and began pumping her arms up and down rapidly, pretending she was flying. Marlin was delivering a case of oranges to the Inn and stopped to watch her. After two minutes of flapping, he cleared his throat loudly, breaking her dream. "Excuse me, but what exactly are you doing?" He asked politely.

Muffy squawked and ceased her flapping. "Marlin," she said, breathing hard and patting her hair. "I…was flying to a movie studio to become famous. Er…what were _you _doing?"

"Do you want me to call Celia?" The concerned Marlin asked.

"No!" Muffy suddenly became angry. "I can handle myself without Celia, thank you! Oh…" She began to cry and ran inside the Bar. Six minutes later, Celia entered the Blue Bar and walked over to the counter and the sobbing waitress.

"Marlin told me that you were having another breakdown. What's the matter?" She put a comforting hand on one of the shaking shoulders.

Muffy gradually quieted and dabbed her streaked face with a Kleenex. "I'm so tired of just being Muffy…just plain old Muffy. I want someone to think I'm special!" She admitted guiltily

"I think you're special." Celia said soothingly. (To be quite honest, Celia thought that Muffy was 'special' in both senses of the word.)

Muffy waved her friend's statement away. "Oh, pah! You're my only friend."

"Rock thinks you're special, doesn't he?"

"Rock? Rock!" The blonde's curls were shaking indignantly. "I'm so tired of waiting for _Rock _to quit fooling around and grow up. He'll never see me as more than an opportunity to flirt his heart out to. I need…something." Celia had never heard Muffy speak so honestly and solidly.

"I…don't know what to tell you. I know! Why don't you ask Chris? Isn't she psychic?"

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Nami had left Calendula Farm after eating breakfast with Jack, who couldn't cook very well--but he had outdone himself this morning, out of sheer thankfulness that she had come back to him. Well, she hadn't actually come back just for him…but he was definitely a playing force in her reasoning. Upon leaving his property, she set a course for Lumina's former home. She didn't know yet that Lumina was gone.

Meanwhile, Chris was visiting the new housewife, Kate's mother, named Samantha. She knocked on her door and presented a plate of steamed veggies when invited inside. "I just dropped by to say 'welcome to Forget-Me-Not Valley!' I've seen your daughter--she's a beauty."

Samantha smiled tiredly. "Thank you so much for your hospitality. I'm very grateful. Oh, Kate technically isn't my daughter--she was adopted. You've probably noticed that she doesn't look much like Grant or I…"

"I haven't met your husband yet. Where does he work?"

"He's a computer technician, actually. Are you employed?"

Chris nodded and took a bite of her own steamed carrots. "Yes, I am a secretary up at Michelma Corporation. My husband, Wally, is a athletic trainer. That's what my son is aspiring to become as well. So, about Kate, where did you adopt her from, if you don't mind me asking?"

Samantha shook her head. "No, no, it's fine. I adopted her from another town…I don't remember the name exactly. Mint or Mineral or Merrel Town--something like that. She was a _mistake, _to put it delicately. She inherited her red eyes from her mother. The woman already had two children of her own…I wondered why she didn't get her mother's hair color, it was an interesting shade of red. Kate's sister had the same light red hair, but her brother did not. Apparently Kate and her two stepsiblings had different fathers. Something had happened with the woman's husband…he was traveling or missing or something. It was all very hush-hush and kept quiet in the town. No one ever knew that I had been there or that Kate had been born. I never told Kate much about it, but I've seen her looking at directories of the different towns. Poor thing."

"That's quite a tale," Chris said. "but she seems to have gone to a good home."

"She stays to herself most of the time." Samantha continued. "I wonder what she does…?"

Chris laughed. "Oh, you know children! She's probably just playing house in the woods!"

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Kate was in fact stalking around the Sprite's Tree near the Goddess Pond. She was carrying another blinking machine and a whip. While digging in the soil, she heard voices coming from the pond.

"Did you say that she's been asking about me?" It was a man's voice speaking. Kate peeked around the tree trunk. The man had Elvis-style black hair, a white shirt covered in dirt and muddy blue jeans. He was talking to a woman sitting on top of the water. She had green hair and ethereal blue clothes. Ah! The mythical Harvest Goddess! Kate tightened her grip on her whip.

"Yes, in a way." The Goddess replied. "You're doing a fine job. You see, I'm a good help if you ask for it!"

The black haired man seemed to be overloaded with joy. "Fantastic! I'm…wow….thank you. I should get back to Vesta now. I'll see you tomorrow. Thank you."

Kate smiled inwardly. Ah, village love…so sweet and such a waste of time. The man could be more use in helping her find the entrance to the Sprite's home so she could harness their powers and use them to help her enslave the Goddess! Brilliant. And her mother thought she was playing in the woods. What a laughable concept--playing.

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_I'm just so excited about continuing this story. Can anyone guess who is Kate's real mother and siblings? Even better, can you guess who is her real father? I'll give kudos to anyone who can answer that. Squee!_


	10. What?

_Whee! This story just goes on and on and on and on! Thank you so much for reviewing. It makes me so happy to see the words that you write! I got a few interesting ones this time…_

_Vortex the Pangolin: I sent you a PM. I think that you are the only one who smells incest…what does it smell like?_

_Celialover25: That's what I thought. A girl. Thank you for reading my story! -huggles-_

_Moonlit Dreaming: Curse all of you smart people. Er…your instincts are good. Kate is indeed the product of Lillia and Zack…while Rod's away, Lillia will play! I'll explain it in MTM 4--Threshold._

_Awesome Rapidash: Aack! Another right answer! Good job. Thank you for your comment. I'm glad you liked Kate. I love me my crazy genius girls._

_HMAngel: Yeah, yeah, yeah. The infamous DS topic. So you're still hanging on, are you? I'm glad to see your face around here. You think Jack will "score" with Nami? What exactly do you mean by that? Heh heh._

_AshRB: Actually, flamingos can indeed fly. I had to look it up in the encyclopedia myself. Thanks for reading!_

CHAPTER NINE: Er…what?

Nami was surprised by the Villa's unkempt appearance when she skipped up the front steps. Now that the days were getting warmer, the grass was growing at a rapid pace. Usually Sebastian kept the plants at a uniform inch high, but now even six dandelions had the nerve to show their fluffy faces. The house itself was silent; No musical strands chased each other through the air, no voices rose or fell…but every once in a while you could discern a plaintive 'meow'. "Lumina?" Nami called curiously. When nothing answered, she opened the door and shivered as a different sort of air rushed out and swirled around her body. It was cold…and heavy…filled with a grip of something that could only be described as _age._ Something was wrong in this house. Something was very wrong.

Suddenly something brushed against Nami's ankles, making her start and release the breath she'd been holding. She looked down and saw the source of the previous meows--a very fuzzy, furry Persian cat with a mushed-up face and bright blue eyes. It eyed the redhead's hands, looking for food. _Why is the cat looking at me like that? Hasn't Romana been feeding it? Where _is _Romana or Lumina anyway? _She wondered. _Surely they wouldn't just leave their cats here. _She closed the door behind herself and ventured into the hallway beside the stairs to Lumina's room.

An investigation of the kitchen unearthed some interesting evidence. The counters were full of cut vegetables that looked like they'd been laying out for a day or so. An empty pot stood on a red-hot eye; all of the water had boiled away. Nami switched it off and examined the sliced meat on the cutting board. Somebody--Sebastian, no doubt, had been in the middle of making stew when he was disturbed by…what? It must have been violent to have interrupted him to the point that he couldn't turn the stove off. But what in the world was it?

--------------

After leaving Samantha's house, Chris dropped by Van's stall to pick up a few groceries, since this was the corpulent man's business day. Unfortunately, Van informed her that Jack hadn't sold his farm's produce that week yet. Just as Chris was getting ready to head towards Vesta's to buy some broccoli, two girls grabbed her hands.

"Chris! We need you to look into our futures real quick!" Muffy sounded out of breath. On the secretary's other side was a wide-eyed Celia.

"Yeah! Please? You're off work today and all…" Celia pleaded. Secretly delighted that the girls had sought her help, Chris agreed and motioned for them to follow her. She led them into her house, closing the door behind them with a BANG.

She searched the cabinets in the kitchen until she found a dark-colored, wide, shallow dish which she filled with water at the sink. "I learned this little trick from The Lord of The Rings. Galadriel really knows her stuff!" She led her followers into a bathroom adjoining her bedroom. She placed the bowl on the floor and turned off the lights before pulling a flashlight out from behind the toilet. The flashlight was pointed at the bowl, illuminating the water. "So…let's have Muffy first. I assume you want to see past, present and future?"

Muffy shrugged. "That sounds about right. I want to know where my life is headed, who I'll marry and anything else important."

Chris nodded slowly and closed her eyes. "Look into the bowl, Muffy."

Muffy did as she was told. The water began to shine brighter…then suddenly scenes began to appear. "Oh, look! It's me modeling dresses in front of my mirror when I was nine…wait…now I'm older and…I'm on a real runway! I look like a professional model! Wow--my face is the front cover of _Hawt Stylez 4 Hawt Girlz _magazine!"

"Ah, your future definitely holds modeling. Look again." Chris muttered.

"A shape is forming…ohhh…no…it's Rock. He's twirling a rose in his hand."

"Yes. A match perhaps. Anything else?"

"Er…there's some redheaded guy and a tan one with curly black hair. They're cute."

"More matches, you lucky thing!"

Muffy gasped. "I'm hugging Griffin and saying goodbye. Celia's there, Jack's there, even Nami is there with me. Why am I sad? Where am I going?"

"I couldn't tell you for sure. Anything else? Your window into the future is closing…"

One more image blazed into view. It was a blonde boy with bright green eyes, crazy hair and a peace medallion hanging on his neck. He wore a red flannel shirt and jeans. It was…"It's my child…" Tears gently prickled Muffy's eyes. She wiped them away with her blue sweater. "That medallion he's wearing is familiar. Who have I seen with a peace medallion? Show me more, bowl!"

But the water went dark.

------------------------

Kate was so close to capturing the Harvest Sprites…she could feel it rippling across her skin in seductive waves. The only thing she had seen around the tree, however, were a couple of mushrooms and a skittish squirrel. The girl sighed angrily. At least she didn't have to look far for a snack. Finding mystical elves to enslave was a hungry business. She uprooted a mushroom and took a bite out of it. Instantly her vision blurred and the world seemed to dance around her eyes as she sank down to the ground and the swirling gray welcomed her into it's arms.

She awoke in the middle of the Sprite's Tree. No, seriously! It was decorated with tiny elfin details in colorful elfin fashion. Mushrooms, pale as the glow of a firefly, were growing in clumps around the edges of the room. Three cheerful, wide-eyed, dull-looking sprites were staring at her.

"Hi! I'm Nic!" The medium-sized elf dressed in red said.

"I'm Nak!" Cheered the tiny one in blue.

"I'm Flak! Did you come to play?" The sprite in yellow was fat.

Kate grinned and stood up, gripping her whip tightly. "I'm Katrina. It's such a pleasure to make _your _acquaintances. Yes, I am here to _play. _I'm going to choose what game we're going to play. How about the game where you three bow down and do whatever I tell you to do?"

Nic raised an eyebrow. "Who made you boss? Why should you get to…is…is that a whip?" Kate nodded sweetly. "Oh dear." Nic began inching his way towards the door. Kate cracked her whip loudly and he stopped. Suddenly Nak flew towards her and bit her ankle, distracting her long enough for the sprites to sprint out through the door.

Kate was not to be put down. She soon followed, cracking her whip threateningly and making grabs for her prey. "You little beasts! I'm going to catch you and force you to do my every wish!"

"OH HARVEST GODDESS!" The sprites shrieked while being chased in circles around the Goddess Pond. "SPARE US!"

The genius girl gradually caught the fat one. "DON'T KILL MEEEEEEE!" He squeaked, quivering. But something was moving behind his captor.

"Put my sprite slave DOWN this instant!" The Harvest Goddess had risen from her pond and was scowling at Kate.

Kate stuck her tongue out. "Make me!" The Harvest Goddess giggled, shrugged, pointed her finger at Kate and smiled. The girl collapsed, releasing Flak.

He whimpered and ran into the Goddess's arms. "I think I wet my pants, Goddess."

She wrinkled her beautiful face and chucked him into the pond. "Gross! Get back in your tree, slaves! I'll deal with Miss Simons-Brandy."

------------------------

Nami noticed that the cat was still following her. "Scat!" She yelled at it. The loud noise did not seem to agree with the weighty atmosphere in the mansion. The feline didn't leave her side, but arched it's back huffily. "Sorry." Whispered Nami. _Did I just apologize to a cat? What is happening to me? I hate cats! I ate breakfast with that farmer boy--which I would never do in three lifetimes and now I'm apologizing to stupid animals. _She scowled and pushed open the door to Romana's bedroom. The feel of this room was…horrible…like something was sucking the breath from her lungs. The cat dived under the bed and began to meow like it's heart was broken. Nami pushed up the bed skirt and found Lumina's other cat--and orange and black tabby--dead under the bed. The Persian was pawing it's companion. Nami suddenly felt something--someone touch her mind. One thought, spoken in low, agonized tones filled her head.

_Get out._

--------------------------

"Celia, it's your turn, honey." Chris said, flipping the flashlight back on.

The farmhand peered into the water in the dish. It lit up brilliantly, making the walls swim with muffled light and shadows. "Something's appearing. It's…er…some lady with green hair." Celia knew that it was the Harvest Goddess, but Muffy would surely claim that she had lost her mind if she voiced the identity of the deity. "Now I see Muffy and a brown-haired girl in light yellow dresses. That's funny, they look almost like bridesmaids or something. There's a blonde pastor…it _is _a wedding! Is it mine? Muffy's a bridesmaid, so it isn't hers."

Chris closed her eyes. "I can't tell."

The scene faded and was replaced by another. "There's that old butt Marlin. What is he doing in my room? No! He's found my diary! Put that down! It's zooming in on the diary page…oops…he's reading some not-so-nice words I wrote about him. Wait…is he crying? That can't be Marlin…"

"Maybe it's allergies!" Muffy contributed.

Celia made a face. "Shut up, Muff. Whoa…I see Jack's house. It's nighttime and he's asleep. The door is opening and…that's Nami! What is she doing in my brother's house at night? She's _smiling. _I've never seen Nami smile."

"That's the past." Chris breathed deeply. "Look further; your time is waning."

"I see Muffy dragging Rock by the ear. Hee hee! Now he's stopped her. They're talking…WHOA! Hel-_lo!_ That's a classic."

Muffy squealed and pushed for a chance to see the watery image. "What? What happened? Tell me!"

"Hush, Muffy. The scenes are fading…but I see a child--like Muffy's…but it's a girl. She's holding packages of seeds. Her hair is black, so maybe she isn't mine. My hair is brown. No, she's running towards someone…it's me! She _is _mine." The bowl went dark again.

"Time's up!" Chris announced cheerfully. All the way out the door. Muffy badgered her friend to tell her what happened between she and Rock.

She twirled her curls hopefully. "Did I slap him?"

Celia set off at a run toward Jack's farm. "Quit asking me. You'll find out one day…after all…it is your future."

"Modeling and a peace medallion. Where do I find those?" Muffy remembered that Daryl owned a computer. She could look up modeling agencies perhaps. "I just hope that Daryl has forgotten that crush he had on me last year."

-------------------------

Celia was out of breath when she skidded into her brother's farm. She peeked into the barn, but found no one. Shrugging, she hurried to the farmhouse and knocked on the door. "Jack? It's Celia. Are you there?" The curtains were drawn, so she couldn't tell if he was at home or not.

Jack was indeed at home, but he was counseling a deeply disturbed Marlin in the living room. The suave-haired boy had knocked on Jack's door, red-eyed and upset. Once inside, he had poured out his long tale of woe concerning a certain diary entry from a certain woman. "She said that I was 'heartless' and 'robotic'. I checked a lot of past entries--she's referred to me as Mr. Grouchybutt for two years! She's hated me for two years! I've tried to be kind and gentle and all of those things but why isn't it working?!" Jack was about to make a VERY unhelpful reply when his door was knocked upon. He looked out the peephole in the door and froze.

"It's _her! _But don't worry. She won't come in uninvited." He whispered.

Celia heard a voice coming from inside. "Jack? So you are home. I'm coming in."

Marlin squeaked as the doorknob began to turn. At a frantic sign from his friend, they both dashed into the kitched right as the girl entered the house. "Er…hi, Cissy!" Jack called out.

"Hey. Do you think we could talk for a moment? Where are you?"

"I'm in the kitchen--but don't come in right now!"

"Why ever not?"  
"Ah! Um. It's…um…it's a…um…surprise. Yeah, that's it."

Celia smiled. "I love surprises! I'll wait until you're ready."

"Alright. Th-thanks." Jack turned to Marlin and dragged him to a door. "This is my supply closet." He shoved Marlin in and had to body-slam the door to close it. His pal was a bit too big for the area in which he was crammed. "Come on in, Cissy."

His sister walked in and hugged him. "Good. I really need to talk to you about two things. By the way, your house is hideous! It's like some kind of wooden coffin! Why don't you decorate it or something? And I don't mean like a fish head stuck on a plaque either!"

"Thanks, Celia." Jack deflated slightly.

"You're welcome." She sat at his table. "First off, I just went to have my future seen by Chris. Did you know that she was psychic? Anyway, while I was there I saw a scene of Nami in your house last night. Explain that."

Jack fidgeted. "Well, you see, she kind of spent the night last night…"

There was a yelp from the closet, but Celia's screech drown it out. "WHAT?"

"No, no, no! Not like that! She came here while I was sleeping and slept on the rug because the Inn was closed and it was kind of cold last night and…I'm telling the truth, I swear!"

Celia eyed him suspiciously. "I'm not sure I trust you."

"Who else could you trust if not your own flesh and blood?"

"Fine. I'll take your word. Secondly, I wanted to talk to you about Marlin."

Jack had an impulse to tell his sister about the small detail that Marlin was hiding in the closet, but he resisted. "Marlin? …What about him?"

"I also saw him in the water at Chris' house. He…er…read some nasty things I wrote about him in my diary. Of course, he shouldn't have been reading my diary in the first place, but you know. In the water-vision, he was really upset about it. That got me thinking." Celia looked guiltily at Jack and waited for him to comment. When he motioned for her to continue, she cleared her throat. "So I was thinking about the past five years that he's been working at Vesta's farm. He's really changed a lot. I mean, he used to never say anything nice, but I caught him taking some fish stew down to old Galen who never leaves his house since his wife died. I've never thought about helping galen. I guess I really didn't mean what I wrote in my diary. It's just out of habit that I continue to hold a grudge. Plus he's gotten loads cuter! It must be the country air. But I don't know how to tell him all of this…how do you tell someone who must hate your guts that you forgive them?"

"I'm positive that he doesn't _hate _you." Jack was working strenuously to stop the laughter he felt inside at the thought of Marlin's face when he heard what Celia was saying.

The girl's eyes narrowed. "How would you know? I bet he does; five years is a long time for someone to be a hateful little worm to you."

"You seem like you're getting a tad _fond _of the chap. Am I right?"

"……Maybe." She admitted.

Marlin's eyes couldn't have been wider inside the closet. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Was it possible? Was Celia forgiving him after all of these years? In his extreme excitement, he accidentally leaned against the door. It swung open and he landed in a heap on the floor. He looked up at Celia; she looked down at them. He screamed and she screamed back. Then she ran out of the house like a scared cat. Marlin stood up on shaking legs. "I'd better go. I hope you don't mind that I snacked on some of that baked corn you keep in the closet. Thanks for all your help, Jack!" He then dashed after his runaway maiden.

Jack grinned. _Baked corn? _He looked in the closet. "That was chicken feed, Marlin!" He yelled. _Oh well. He sure ate a lot of it. _Out of curiosity, he popped a few kernels in his mouth. _Not bad._

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_ZOMG. So yeah. I finally put one of the couples together! Who's proud of me? Whee! Who's next…? Reviews make me want to double my writing speed. Squee!_


	11. A Downtown Brawl

_Oh. My. Goodness. I am seriously insane tonight. Don't blame me for anything ridiculous you read in this chapter!_

CHAPTER TEN: A Downtown Brawl

When Kate woke up, the two things she noticed were the splitting headache she felt, and an odd feeling--like she wanted to go out into the valley and be a sweet, pleasant little angel. She was beside the Goddess Pond, but she couldn't remember how she had gotten there. "Let's see what cute, adorable things I can do to be helpful and nice today! Maybe I shall start by offering the prettiest flower I can find to this pond…although I don't know why I would do that." She stood up and dusted off her skirt. "First I shall change out of these terrible grown-up looking clothes, though. I feel like wearing pink!" She smiled and twirled, humming a happy tune. Out of the Pond area she skipped, swishing her skirts and giggling.

Halfway between her house and the Goddess Pond she accidentally tripped and fell into a boy wearing a red shirt and khaki shorts. "I'm so sorry!" Kate said woefully, tears brimming in her eyes as she stood up and tried to help the boy. He accepted her hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.

"That's fine. Who are you? Are you new here?"

Kate nodded. "Yes. My name is Katrina! I'm thirteen years old and I moved here with my stepparents. What's your name?"

"Hugh. I'm almost fifteen…okay…it's half a year until my birthday…but I like thinking of myself as fifteen." Hugh ran his eyes over Kate's body and decided that she was very pleasing to look at.

Kate giggled. "If you put it that way, you could say that I was almost fourteen. My birthday is next season." She smiled and folded her hands together primly. "Would you like to hang out with me?"

"Sure. Do you like any sports?"

"Does track count? I love to run."

"Are you serious? I love running! I want to be an Olympic athlete when I grow up."

"Great! I need to change first, then I'll come back to you." The girl grabbed her new friend's hand and pulled him towards her house.

-----------------

Meanwhile, the Goddess and the Harvest Sprites were watching Kate's progress on the TV screen under the Goddess Pond. The Goddess held a Gamecube controller in her hands and seemed to be having the time of her life. "This is the best idea I've ever had. Don't you agree, my sprite slaves?"

"You're amazing, Goddess!" Nak yelled.

"Flak, quit eating all of my popcorn…" Whined Nic.

The tubby yellow-clad sprite grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. What are you going to make her do now, Goddess?"

"Shut it, slave." The Goddess popped a piece of popcorn in her mouth. "Who bought kettle corn?"

"I did!" Nic cheered loudly, accidentally elbowing his mistress. "I love kettle corn!"

The Goddess glared daggers at her three disciples. "I hate kettle corn, you imbecile. Fetch me some _real _popcorn before I turn you _into _popcorn. Then I'll decide what to do with our little doll." Nic sulked for a second before deciding that the Goddess probably meant what she said and scampered to the cabinet.

-----------------

Celia was screaming at the top of her lungs. She was screaming because Jack tricked her. She was screaming because she had just realized that she…you know…_liked _Marlin. She was mostly screaming because Marlin had heard that she…you know…_liked_ him. How could she have fallen for such an arrogant jerk who wasn't an arrogant jerk anymore? Did that thought even make sense? Did any of this make sense? Her life didn't make sense! She ceased her screaming to consider the fact that _this might all be a dream. _Yeah! That's it! She was dreaming. What should she do now?

She rolled off of her bed and began screaming again. A minute later, she had devised a plan. If this was a dream, then she should be able to wake up if she did something insane. Something incredibly insane. _What would be so insane that it would wake me up?_ She tilted her head and suddenly had a great idea.

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Marlin was sitting in the grassy space between the Inn and the Blue Bar, thinking about how he was going to approach Celia now that it was out. Okay, technically only _her _secret was out. He hadn't told her anything yet. But of course he would! But how? And when? He was mulling this over when suddenly Celia came running into his view. Waiting to see what she would do, he leaned forward and followed her movements with his eyes.

She appeared to be looking for something. Was she looking for him? No, she was staring at Rock. Now she was approaching him. They were talking…about what?

Celia approached Rock slowly. The blonde boy was leaning against the Inn wall and twirling a rose in his hands. She walked up to him and grabbed his hands. "Rock…if this isn't a dream…I'm really sorry about this. I have to wake up if it is, though. I hope you understand." Then she took his face in her hands and kissed him madly.

He floundered for a moment, then pulled away and announced loudly. "I KNEW IT! No woman can resist my ultimate manliness! Nobody can resist Rock! Haha!" Celia was pulling her hair painfully as he spoke.

"I didn't wake up. I DIDN'T WAKE UP. I am awake! No!" She screeched. "I actually told Marlin that I liked him!" She then turned and glared at Rock. "I can too resist your 'manliness'!"

"Obviously not! You kissed _me, _right? Huh? It must have been my hair. You like my hair, right?" The blonde boy was slightly taken aback that Celia wasn't instantly agreeing that he was the paragon of hotness.

Marlin chose that moment to run up to the pair. His eyes were huge and disbelieving. "Wh-what just happened here? Did you just kiss my girl?"

"Your girl? Hey, she kissed me because of my awesome manly, muscular self."

"Muscular? Please." Marlin laughed in his face.

Celia tapped Marlin's shoulder. "Did you just call me your girl?" She was secretly thrilled, but exasperated at the same time.

Rock was getting angry. "I am too muscular! I'm obviously more muscular than you, because Celia kissed _me _and not _you_!"

"WHY YOU LITTLE…" Marlin then jumped on Rock and began trying to strangle him.

Jack happened to be walking down the main street when Marlin began attacking Rock. Wondering what on earth had just happened, he quickly grabbed both men's collars and pulled them apart. "What on earth are you two doing?!" He asked curiously.

Marlin's face was beet red. "He kissed Celia!"

"Celia kissed me because I'm manlier than Marlin!" Rock's hair was a tangle of blonde all over his face.

Just then, Nami came sprinting down the road from the Villa. "Jack! You've got to tell me where Lumina is. I think her mansion is haunted!" She skidded to a stop and looked at Marlin, Rock, Celia and Jack. "Why are you all red and angry-looking? I'm supposed to be the angry one, remember?"

"Apparently Rock just kissed Celia and Marlin's furious about it." Jack answered calmly.

Rock was trying to fix his hair and smooth out the snarls. "No, Celia kissed _me _because I'm manly."

"I did not kiss you because you were manly! I kissed you because--" Celia was stamping her foot.

Jack stared at her. "Wait a minute, _you _kissed Rock? I thought you loved Marlin!"

"Yeah!" Marlin turned to stare at her also.

Then Muffy stormed out of the Blue Bar and joined the throng in front of the Inn. "Would you guys please be quiet? You're making my hair uncurl. Do you know how long it takes to curl my hair correctly?"

"Shut up, Muffy!" Celia yelled at the blonde.

Muffy put her hands on her shapely hips. "What is up with you?"

"Celia just kissed Rock and now Marlin's angry." Nami had developed a terrible case of the giggles. "Isn't Rock _your _man, Muffy?"

The barmaid turned and glared at her best friend. "You kissed MY Rock? Oh my gosh! You terrible person!"

"Well, yeah, I did…but it was for a reason! Besides, I thought you hated Rock."

"I most certainly do not! When did I say that?"

Jack sighed. "This isn't helping, girls. Stop encouraging them, Nami!"

Nami shrugged innocently. "Sorry."

By now, Marlin had regained his composure fully. "Tell me Jack, what would you think if Nami kissed Rock? Huh?"

Blood rushed into Jack's face. Rock looked between Jack and Marlin, confused. "Why would Jack care about Nami?"

"Haven't you noticed the way he looks at her, you idiot?" Marlin yelled at Rock.

"And now I think this party is over." Jack began backing away. "Have a nice day, ya'll." He then turned and ran off to his farm. Nami stared after him, bewildered. _Did Marlin seriously just say that? _She thought anxiously, following Jack and leaving Muffy and Celia to pull each other's hair in anger.

Two hours later, the argument was finally solved. "So you see, I thought that I was asleep, so I did something that I would never do in my entire life--which was to kiss Rock. I thought it would shock me into wakefulness. But I wasn't asleep after all!"

"Why did you think you were asleep?" Muffy asked.

Celia frowned. "Because of something that happened at Jack's house between Marlin and I."

"Did you not mean what you said?" Marlin was instantly worried. "Were you kidding?"

"No! I wasn't! But I was worried because I thought that you didn't feel the same way about me!"

"That's ridiculous. Of course I care about you." Marlin's face softened.

"I knew you didn't and now…" Celia stopped. "Wait. You do?"

Marlin blinked twice. "Of course."

Rock skirted around the couple and took Muffy's hand. "We'd better go."

"Well, I just remembered that I _don't _like you after all." Muffy jerked away from Rock. "You're a terrible person too, for thinking that Celia thought you were manly! Oh, my hair is uncurling! No! I'm going back to the Blue Bar." She flounced off, her behind swinging angrily. Rock just stood where she had left him, at a loss for words.

"Say, Celia, why don't we go have a drink at the Blue Bar?" Marlin made an attempt to be civilized and act like a normal guy should be to a girl. To his pleasure, Celia swallowed hard and nodded.

"That sounds nice."

--------------------------

The popcorn was finally fully popped. "Here it is, Goddess. Extra buttery, just for you!" Nic waltzed in with the gargantuan bowl of popcorn in his tiny arms.

"Extra butter? Are you trying to make me fat? Go stand it the corner!" The Goddess took the popcorn nevertheless and picked up the Gamecube controller. "Let's check in on Miss Simons-Brandy."

--------------------------

Hugh was trying to impress his new friend. "Did you know that I have a job that pays seven G a day?"

Some of Kate's compressed evil-ness began to show through. "So? I earn about thirty thousand a year."

"Doing what?" Hugh was amazed.

Kate's Goddess-induced goodness switched back on. "I'm just kidding! That's amazing! Seven G a day!" She was now dressed in a frilly pink dress with lace and ribbons dripping off of it.

Hugh blushed. "Thanks. Let's race. How about to…Cody's trailer?"

"That sounds fine!" They posed and at a signal from Hugh, shot off towards the trailer. Kate won by a long shot, arriving not even out of breath. Hugh puffed up and stared at her.

"You're incredible. How do you run that fast in a dress?" He stopped and stared even closer because his racing companion had fallen to the ground and was twitching. "Katrina? Are you okay? Cody! Help!" He picked the girl up and began running towards the main road.

-------------------------------

Meanwhile, the Goddess was kicking her Gamecube. "Stupid box! I'm losing control over Kate."

"Why don't you just blow on the disc instead of kicking the--" Nic had crept out of his corner.

"SHUT UP, SLAVE!"

"Yes, ma'am!"


	12. Let Me be Close

_Sometimes I feel like this story will never end…but here's another link in the never-ceasing chain! Enjoy and gawk at the awkward Marlin-Nami conversation!_

CHAPTER ELEVEN: Let Me be Close

When Kate came to her senses for the second time that day, she felt the wooden table under her body, smelled the smell of antiseptics in the air and heard the noise of someone breathing nearby. She slowly began raising herself to a sitting position and shook away the light feeling in her skull. "Katrina, are you alright?"

Kate twisted her head to locate the source of the question. It had come from a boy with blond hair and a red shirt. "Who are you and where am I?!" She demanded bossily.

"What are you talking about? We've already met. I'm Hugh, remember? We raced to Cody's trailer and you won…"

_If this is a trap…it's a clever one. This kid might be some shrimpy hit man sent by the Poobah Jones. _She began searching her skin until she found a needle topped with a blinking green light embedded in her arm. She pulled it out gingerly, inspecting her surroundings as she did so. "Where am I?"

Hugh was eyeing her nervously. "You're at Doctor Hardy's house. He wasn't home but I brought you anyway. Are you sure you're alright? Should I call your parents?"

"Do hush, please. If the Poobah Jones sent you, you can tell him that I still have his tortoise and it's safe apart from the third eye. If you are, by chance, telling the truth about the alleged race to the alleged trailer…then I have been outsmarted and duped by the mystical divinity beneath the Goddess Pond. Retaliatory measures mush be taken." Hugh stared at his friend with a blank expression. Kate sighed and said, "I can see that you didn't understand me. I have a deal for you. You may not be aware of this, but I have graduated with a quadruple major from best school on this planet. I am a genius and I occupy my time by trying to enslave mythical creatures and spying on the locals for Daryl. I propose that you join my cause and become my partner in crime-that-isn't-crime. What say you?" She felt proud of the moment. It wasn't everyday that one acquired a not-too-sharp partner to be one's puppet and assistant in one's plans for personal gain.

Perhaps Hugh was smarter than he looked, however. "What's in it for me?"

"What's in it for _you?" _Kate was amazed at his audacity. "If you join me, I won't take you to court, how about that? After all, I'm a sweet, innocent girl who just woke up on a _table _in an _empty house _with a _strange boy _and now I have _strange clothes _on. That could be detrimental to future plans--a charge of assault might put a damper on your life."

"Er…yeah…I'm _all _for the whole 'partner' deal." Maybe Hugh wasn't as smart as he looked, after all. He was more awed and petrified than anything else at the moment. What had he gotten himself into?

--------------------

Nami had followed Jack back to his house. "Hey, Jack, wait." He stopped and turned around, cheeks still retaining the flush from earlier. "Listen…forget whatever Marlin said. You have to tell me where Lumina is. I just looked around in her house and it's completely abandoned."

"Oh, they're dead. I mean, Romana and Sebastian are." He hastily made himself clear when Nami paled. "No, Lumina went to live with her brother, Clifford, in Mineral Town. She left last night before you arrived."

"Sh-she did?" Nami shoved her hands in her pockets, cursing herself for not returning earlier. "Did she…leave a message for me?"

"I don't remember. I don't think so, though."

"Oh." _I bet she was mad a me for leaving. _"I guess I'd better go get my room back at the Inn."

Jack opened and closed his mouth before speaking again. "Would you like me to go with you?"

"No." She called over her shoulder as she left his farm emotionlessly. He watched her go and wished, just for a moment, that he had such complete mastery over his own emotions.

------------------

_Never again, _Muffy decided, _never again will I go to Daryl's house after dark. _One could certainly discover interesting facts when one paid a visit to the local mad scientist ho lived near the swamp of lower Forget-Me-Not Valley. She had knocked on his door and asked if she could use his computer. "Heh, heh. Certainly. Come in!" Daryl had sniveled greasily. She allowed herself to be conducted into his strange house that was cluttered with textbooks, test tubes, crumpled papers and cast-off cans of energy drink. The blonde gaped at the what seemed to be millions of pictures papering the walls. When examined closer, they were all candid shots of Flora at work, walking around the town, petting her pet Chihuahua and talking to the archaeologist, Carter, whom she lived with. In every picture, Carter's face was covered in scribbles and doodles of mustaches and devil horns. Slightly disturbed by the total insane obsession surrounding the strawberry blonde Flora, Muffy hurried over to the laptop on a desk. She typed in the request for modeling agencies and the search agencies began pulling in pages. Daryl watched her as she worked.

Three applications later, a knock came at the door. Daryl ceased his unblinking surveillance of the blonde bombshell and scuttled to the door. Kate was the knocker. Muffy twisted her head to examine the teenager whom she had never seen before. The girl had brought Hugh to the small house as well. "Good evening, Daryl. I'd like you to examine this boy if you would. If he's clean, he is to become my new partner."

Daryl grinned with a distasteful glee. "Yes! Oh, I have another assignment for you. Your partner can help." He pushed Hugh into another room, followed by the girl who appraised Muffy before closing the door behind herself. Muffy listened curiously to the sounds coming from inside the room--zaps and buzzing noises. Once every few minutes Hugh would protest or yelp loudly. The waitress finished processing her applications and stood up just in time to be graced with the sight of Hugh being led out of the room, tugging his shirt down. Kate had a smug look on her face. Her curiosity peaked, Muffy gathered her purse slowly, but the threesome said not a word until the visitor was on her way back to the Blue Bar for the night.

------------------------

There isn't a strong enough word in the whole dictionary to describe how displeased Ruby was when Nami strode into the Inn and requested a room. The stout cook was utterly and wholly appalled at the reappearance of her least favorite person on earth. There _was _something different about the redhead this time. Normally she would have demanded a room. Today, however, she asked politely and had wiped her feet on the welcome mat. Still, this did nothing to quell Ruby's great anger that boiled her very soul.

"Hello, Ruby. May I have my room back, please?" Nami inquired.

Ruby gaped. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!?"

"I'm looking for a room. Um…are you alright?"

"No." Ruby cast about the room for a sharp stick, but there were none to be had. "I-I…no! Out of my Inn!"

Nami looked confused and said soothingly, "What? Calm down…"

"No! Oh, heavens…WHY? BACK FROM WHENCE THEE CAME, FELL BEAST! I WILL NOT SURRENDER! AH!" Ruby grew increasingly possessed-looking until she picked up the same mop that she had vented her anger on her radio with. Droning Hindi curses deliriously, Ruby chased her victim out of the Inn. "CHORRO MUJHE! TUM BARII SHAITAAN HO! MAR JAA O!" (A translation for you: Leave me alone! Go drown yourself in the flood! Die!)

Terrified, Nami loped back to Jack's house. Night had fallen and the farmhouse was dark when she knocked on it's door. Jack opened it warily, but was relieved to see the girl. "Nami, what's the matter? You're all sweaty."

"Jack! Ruby's gone insane! She's yelling in some crazy language and trying to kill me with a mop!"

"Whoa, girl," Jack put his hands on her shoulders comfortingly. "calm down. Do you not have a room?"

"No! She was yelling at me in a different language and trying to _beat me with a mop. _What about that don't you get?"

"So what do you want me to do?"

Nami hadn't thought of that yet. What did she want him to do? "Can I stay in your barn?"

"Rock will be with you out there, but you're welcome to it."

"Scratch that idea. I will _not _room with Mr. Lovely. I guess I'll…go…sleep by the springs. Thanks…anyway…bye." Nami didn't favor the idea of sleeping on the ground, but she just couldn't bring herself to ask…

Jack felt guilty as his friend began slumping away towards the springs. She was a lady, after all. Ladies shouldn't sleep on the grass that was wet with dew. "Hey--HEY! Nami!" The girl returned to him eagerly. "Er…don't take this the wrong way...but you're welcome to stay with me if you'd--"

"Really? Thanks so much!" Nami had given him a kiss on the cheek and was lying on the rug before Jack could respond.

Putting a finger to his searing-hot face, Jack grinned sheepishly and stepped over Nami to get to his bed. "Good night." He mumbled.

"'Night. Thanks." Nami curled up like a cat on the rug and closed her eyes. _Right. I just half-kissed the farmer boy. What is wrong with me? _She felt like she was changing. She was like a caterpillar crawling into a cocoon and feeling the physical and emotional weathering take place. Ever since her return to the valley last night, something had changed. The air was different and it inspired _good feelings _where she had been so numb before. Why now did she feel guilt and the urge to say thank you? Why now did she not take things for granted? Why did she want, deep down in the very pit of her heart, to stay with him tonight? Who was he to deserve her? Who was _she_ to deserve _him_? Every caterpillar that spins a chrysalis emerges a butterfly…right?

---------------

The next morning both Chris and Samantha woke up and began making breakfast as usual--not bothering to check on their kids. That's a good thing, though, because if they had bothered to, they would have noticed that the teenagers weren't in bed. Both Kate and Hugh had been awake and out of the house since five o'clock that morning. After a series of embarrassing and invasive tests performed last night, Daryl pronounced Kate's new partner to be free of anything unusual and possibly threatening. Satisfied, she informed Hugh of the many assignments that they would be completing in the next few days.

Hugh never thought that he would ever be skulking around the windows of Jack's house. The poor farmer didn't even know that he was being watched. Only after furious argument did Kate agree to turn her head as Jack changed his clothes. "You _can't _watch him dress. It's just wrong."

"But what if he does something important while changing? We could miss it and then we'll never be able to borrow Daryl's DNAS."

"You told me that we were only supposed to watch how he talks to the red headed girl. Why would she be in the house while he's dressing? As a matter of fact, why are we watching him now, anyway? Nami can't be in his house now--it's early morning. She wouldn't be at his house this early." Hugh couldn't resist glancing through the window slyly.

Kate smirked. "No? Who's that, then?"

The two observed a familiar face and head of messy red hair come through the kitchen door into the living room that served as Jack's bedroom. "Ah! She _is_ there! Why?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, you perv?" Kate was enjoying herself immensely with her new partner. She actually used a _slang word_--perv--that wasn't a real word. Her college professors would have been ashamed.

----------------

Sure, Muffy was a pretty girl. In fact, she was drop dead beautiful. Despite this, she never thought she'd get a call from an agency two days later. Only two days had passed since she witnessed the strange scene in Daryl's house. Two short days and there was a call for her from the leading agency in the city. Griffin was as pale as death when he came to his faux daughter holding the telephone receiver between two fingers as if it were a rabid animal. The old-fashioned bartender had never gotten the hang of using the telephone and didn't like Muffy using it either. "It's a call for you. Here…take it." He thrust the receiver at her quickly and hurried away.

"Hello?" Muffy asked tentatively.

"Hello? Is this Muffy Bayner?"

"Yes, that's me."

"Ah. Good. My name is Hunter Carr and I'm with Bevel Modeling. You sent us an application, is that correct?"

Muffy tensed, nervous as to the nature of the call. "Yes…I did…"

"Well I must say that your photographs were some of the best amateur photos we have ever received. We don't normally do this, but you're accepted already! I see no reason to set up any interviews…so…would it be alright for you to join us down here in Wyssh City? I'll send a courtesy limo to pick you up."

"A…a…a limo? A _limo_? Wow! Sure! When will you be here?"

"I can have a ride there in two days. Is that okay? You'll need to bring enough clothes and necessities for a few weeks at a time. You can come back home every two weeks or so."

"Two days…oh…that's soon." Muffy tilted her head and ran her hand through her curls to comfort herself.

"I'm sorry, but that's the only time slot available. Do you want the job?"

Muffy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Ooh…yes. Two days is fine. I'll be ready. Thank you!"

Hunter sounded relieved. "No, ma'am, thank _you._" Muffy returned the receiver to it's dock and stood still for a few seconds. Two days. She'd better start packing. She'd also better tell Griffin, Celia, Jack and…Rock, too. Selfishly Muffy looked forward to the shocked expressions on their faces. It would be nice to be missed.

------------------

Nami was too preoccupied with her thoughts about Jack to notice Kate and Hugh huddled beside his house. She was thinking about the sleepless night spent of the floor of the farmhouse and how Jack smiled when he slept. Someone once wrote a book about how the sleeping person's expressions tell a lot about their personality. A big dopey grin suited Jack just fine. _What expression do I wear?_

She was so preoccupied, in fact, that she didn't even notice when she bumped into Gustafa on her way to…nowhere. She was just walking aimlessly. "I'm sorry, friend!" Gustafa said cheerfully when they collided.

"No, no, it was my fault, Galen." Nami mumbled. She was surprised to find herself at Vesta's farm. Marlin was working purposefully in the crop beds. Nami wandered up to him. "Hi. How are you?"

"I'm fine. How are you? It's nice to see you back in town. How long have you been back?"

"Oh…three or four days, I'd say. So, tell me, have you and Celia been enjoying yourselves?" Nami smirked.

Marlin squirmed and faked a smile. "What do you mean, pray tell? There's nothing going on between Celia and I."

"At the risk of sounding clichéd…" Nami almost giggled. "make sure you wipe the lipstick off of your face before lying blatantly. Have a nice day." She turned and left Marlin furiously scrubbing at his blushing face. Well, if there was nothing left to do, she might as well go bother Jack while he worked in his farm.

And that was precisely what she did.

-------------------8888

_One day I'll get somewhere with this story. One day. Review, please! I love everyone who reviews!_


	13. Arsenic and Affections

_And so begins another piece of the never-ending saga of the poor peasants in Forget-me-Not. I'm actually beginning to end it now if you can believe it. Not all of the couples will end happily…so sad but true. There will be one rather shocking couple and one disturbing one! So read on my fellow HM addicts, read on!_

_**Snowpenguin55**__: Aww…I'm blushing. Thank you._

_**1angelette**__: You know, Lenga, I didn't really like the Hugate pairing when I first began to write it…but now it's really grown on me. If you liked the last bit I'm sure you'll enjoy this next chapter. _

_**Awesome Rapidash**__Thank you! Heh heh…I have plans for Daryl…_

_**Moonlit Dreaming: **__Well…you know…about Flora…what she doesn't know won't hurt her…right? The only thing I'd be worried about would be Carter finding out. -nudge nudge-_

_**Morgan Lee Faye: **__Amusing? I hope so! Thank you!_

_**AshRB: **__Wait 'til you see what she does in the next chapter! I sure hope that you hate Gustafa as much as I do!_

_**Cloudy.skye: **__Yes, it is Hindi. I got it off of The Secret Garden the musical…so don't think I know Hindi or anything like that. Even though that would be cool._

CHAPTER TWELVE: Arsenic and Affections

There's something supremely sweet about watching somebody you like work and making small talk and jokes to pass the time. There's something even sweeter about those moments when the work is done and you wrap a friendly arm around your 'friend's' waist and silence falls for the precious minute that you are awarded with. Then duty calls and you separate, feeling the gentle tension stretch and become taut once more.

Today was one of those days for Nami. The Valley was silent that morning--apart from the ever-present songs of birds, chit-chat of small animals and the rushing water-like sound of wind in the trees. Lumina wasn't around to play her music, Kate and Hugh weren't bothering the cows and Muffy…well…it would be a while until the valley was cursed with Muffy's singing once more. That wasn't a bad thing, either.

It was six days ago that a gleaming black limousine had pulled up in front of the Blue Bar and honked it's horn loudly. Muffy had stepped out of the Bar moments later, laden with baggage of all shapes and sizes. Her blonde hair was freshly curled and her cherry-red stilettos were polished. Griffin followed her out. "What in tarnation is that long automobile doing outside my Bar?" He then stared at Muffy's bags. "Where do you think you're going?" Celia and Marlin hurried, hand in hand, to the bar. Rock followed close behind.

A dark-skinned man with black hair tumbling out under a patterned purple bandanna climbed out of the car. "Are you ready to go, Muffy?"

Muffy quelled under her foster father's glare and twittered, "Oh…did I forget to tell you? I'm leaving. That's Hunter Carr and he's my new agent! I'm going to be a famous magazine model!"

"Model, my foot! You ain't going nowhere." Griffin crossed his arms, protective of his 'daughter'.

"Okay. First of all, 'you ain't going nowhere' isn't proper English. It contains a double-negative because 'ain't' stands for many things like 'is not', 'are not' and 'am not'. Combine with the word 'nowhere' and you have a double negative." Muffy posed, pulling one pretty knew over the other. "Second of all, I _am _going somewhere and that somewhere is Chupacabra Isle."

Griffin waved the grammar lesson away and thundered, "What makes you believe that you could be a model?"

"Oh, my gosh! Who here has seen _Legally Blonde_?" She turned to the crowd of townsfolk that now included Jack, Nami and Murrey. Only Nami, Hunter and Muffy herself raised their hands. "You poor, deprived people…not having seen _Legally Blonde_! Well, anyway, I'm just like Elle Woods. No one believed that _she _could follow _her _dreams either!"

"But," Nami pointed out, "you aren't going to Harvard. You're going to a modeling agency. No one believed Elle because law school was a-typical of a skinny blonde beauty. Modeling is _so you_ it isn't even funny."

"Thank you." Muffy flashed Nami a white smile. "And another thing, Griffin. You didn't finance my trip so you don't have a say!"

"Where _did _you get the money?" Marlin was curious.

Muffy lost her perkiness for a minute. "Ah…I…memorized my parents' credit card number."

"You're going to let her pay with money that isn't hers?" Celia asked the handsome Hunter.

He shrugged. "It's not my business where she got it as long as it pays the bills. Muffy, we really should hurry up…HEY!" He turned around and swatted at his back pocket.

Murrey was holding the agent's wallet while eating a fifty-dollar bill. "Moi." Hunter snatched his expensive wallet back and motioned to Muffy.

"See you soon, guys!" She hugged Celia and Jack and tucked her bags in the backseat of the limo.

Just then, Kate and Hugh ran out of Jack's farm carrying identical blinking machines. In a flash of red and purple, they dashed towards Hunter and jabbed needles in his buff arms. He shrieked with pain and surprise before diving in the driver's seat. "Come on, Muffy! This place is crazy!" Satisfied with their new samples of DNA, Kate and Hugh scampered towards Daryl's house.

"NO!" yelled Griffin and Rock simultaneously. Muffy waved a final goodbye and climbed in the limousine. It quickly drove off, chased by Griffin who grabbed the rear bumper and tore it off in a moment of furious strength. The car didn't stop until it was miles away from the Valley.

Even stranger than that even was the next morning when Ruby knocked on Jack's door. She was bearing a plate of pancakes. "Oh…Nami…dear…I felt that we got off to a bad start the other day. Tim's making me take medicine and it makes me loopy sometimes," she simpered when the redhead answered the door apprehensively. "so I brought these pancakes to apologize."

Pleasantly surprised, Nami thanked her and took the pancakes into the kitchen. Jack had just woken up, so she stayed in the kitchen for a while so her friend could change. He finally came into the kitchen and grinned when he saw the pancakes. "Did you make those for me?"

"No. Ruby brought them. Try one." Nami pushed it across the table. He picked one up and was about to bite into it when a loud ruckus began outside. Jack dropped the pancake and hurried out the door. Two dogs were rolling around on top of one another, fighting with teeth flashing and growls resounding. After observing them for a second, the farmer went inside and retrieved one of the pancakes. He dropped it in front of the dogs and they stopped fighting.

"Which ever one eats the pancake we'll keep, how about that? I love dogs." He watched as the long-eared dog ran forwards and scarfed the bread. It barked happily once before wheezing once and falling over dead. Both Nami and Jack shrieked and looked down at the dead animal. "I…I…er…I guess we won't be taking the one with the long ears. H-how about the other one?" The other dog was stocky and orange. It's ears were pointy on top.

Nami picked it up and turned to Jack. "Was it the pancake? Ruby brought them…"

Jack ran inside and grabbed the plate of sweets and brought them outside. "I'm going to go ask Ruby what she put in them…stay here." Clutching the pancakes, he wasted no time in getting to the Inn. Once Ruby was located, he shoved the pancakes at her. "What did you put in these, Ruby?"

Looking like the world was made of sugar, spice and everything nice, Ruby bowed slightly. "Did Nami eat one?" Her voice was quivering with excitement. "Did she?"

"Er…" Jack lifted an eyebrow. "Yeah." Lying was a sin. Oh well.

"YESSS! My goal has been reached! You see, my prolific farmer, I filled those pancakes with arsenic! Hah! I win! I win! I win! I win! I win!" Ruby danced around the Inn kitchen with unrestrained glee. "I've been trying to poison her ever since she got here, but up until now it's only ever given her a sick stomach. I win! I win! I win! I win!"

Heart pounding, Jack raced out of the Inn and back to the farm. When he arrived, panting, in front of Nami, he gasped out, "Nami! Don't ever accept anything that Ruby gives you! Ever! Never! Understand?"

Nami was confused, but sensing the extreme distress of her…friend…she nodded. "Yeah. Okay." Her fears only increased as Jack pulled her into a desperate hug. Her fears increased and so did her heartbeat.

Hugh wasn't sure that he wanted to go near the giant turtle in the swamp near Cody's trailer. "It looks…dangerous. Should you really touch it like that?"

"Relax. This is a turtle that er…crawled into my luggage from the palace of the Poobah Jones. He has a third eye, but I concealed it with a bandanna. He won't bite you. The Poobah had him trained to be amiable. Imagine the stir that would be created if he took a chunk out of one of the princes' legs!" Kate patted the turtle's wrinkly head. "Now take the MEA and put it close to the head."

Hugh did as he was told and scanned the readings appearing on the screen of the machine he was holding. "No pheromones. Sorry."

"How unnerving. What did Daryl want these for, anyway?"

"I'm not sure. It had something to do with Flora."

Kate laughed derisively. "Flora. That's all he talks about aside from our business. How pathetic and useless."

"Useless? Au contraire. I find it to have it's uses. Speaking of which, did you know that he has a secret stash of brown sugar candy? We should go ask him for some."

"I did know about his stash. I've asked him for some before and he spazzed out. I doubt he'd give you any." Kate smiled at her partner.

Hugh smiled back at her. His smile mimicked hers more and more every day--vampire-like. "That's where Flora's use comes in. You know the only thing that scares Daryl more than cacti is having Flora find out about his picture stash."

"So you're talking blackmail, eh?"

"Precisely."

Kate grinned and nodded. "You know, I think you'll make a fine villain yet." She watched as he began running towards Daryl's house, then stopped and motioned for her to follow. Maybe…just maybe…love wasn't so pathetic and useless after all. Maybe.

Gustafa had been doing some deep thinking (as deep as Gustafa could get) and had recently come to an interesting conclusion about life and about some events that had transpired in the past. He was sitting on a log outside his yurt when the thought rapped his skull to him that life wasn't much fun alone. No, his favorite memories were the ones when Nami was sitting next to him on a matching log…counting bugs and singing folk songs. After some more shallow thought patterns, he concluded that he really should rethink what Nami had said to him so much earlier that year.

She had said that she liked him and he had turned her down. He had promised that he would devote himself to nature. But nature wasn't a very good conversationalist and it didn't play the harp. Or the banjo. Well…technically Nami didn't play the banjo either, but that could be remedied if they renewed their friendship and spent some time together again. Playing the banjo was a greatly sought-after quality in a woman in Gustafa's eyes.

And luck of all luck! Just as he was thinking these thoughts, the same woman who had been dancing in his mind came strolling down. She was accompanied by Jack, but Gustafa didn't pay any attention to that. As the two passed his yurt, he called out to her, "Yo! Nami!"

Nami was more than a little surprised when he spoke, but she excused herself from Jack and walked over to her old crush. "Yes?"

"Peace, sister." The hippie laid down his guitar and looked at the redhead in the eyes. "I wanted to talk to you about something. Do you have time?"

"Sure."

"Okay. Well…do you remember a while back when you told me that you were…interested in me?"

"Yeah." Nami was becoming uncomfortable with the conversation at hand.

Gustafa ploughed on. "I've been thinking about that day for a long time and I have decided to change my answer. You're an amazing girl, Nami. What do you say?"

Nami didn't answer for a split second. During that second Jack caught his breath and held it. _No, no, no, no, no, NO! Nami! No!_

But what she did next shocked both Jack and Gustafa.

-----------

**OMG! What did she do?!?**


	14. On the Proverbial Edge of Something

_Thank you all for reading my story! I don't have time to respond to each and every comment today, but you are all so sweet. Thank you! I just love reading all of the reviews from you readers. This chapter is another cliffie. Sorry. You won't get another chapter for quite a while, but don't worry! It'll come and I expect to wrap this baby up in about another two or three chapters. Thank you again and I hope you enjoy this next installment!_

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: On the Proverbial Edge of Something

Nami laughed for five minutes straight. She then took a few deep breaths and laughed for a further seventeen and a half minutes. Finally when she couldn't breathe anymore, she slowly quieted down and wiped her eyes. "Oh…my…Harvest Goddess…" She looked up at Jack's stunned face and then down at Gustafa's clueless one and cracked up again. "I-I'm s-so-orry! But d-did you seriously j-just say what I th-thought you said? What a j-joke! I can't believe you! Hah! Like I would look twice at a weird, tree-hugging, bad-music-playing hippie like you! Hah! Oh…I think I'm going to start laughing again…" Her face contorted into grotesque shapes as she tried desperately to hold the mirth inside. Unable to do so, she dissolved into helpless giggles and clutched onto Jack for support.

Unsure of what to say, Jack looked down at Nami and began sweating with relief. _Thank the Harvest Goddess. She didn't say yes. _He patted her back nervously and heaved a huge sigh. "Er…maybe you ought to kind of explain to Gustafa why you said no." He was interested in her reasoning.

"Yeah! I want some explanations! You sure seemed to like me before!" Gustafa was indignant.

Nami gasped for breath and bent over double, attempting to clear her thoughts. "I can't date you because I'm already dating someone else."

"Whaaa?" Both Jack and Gustafa gaped at the redhead. "Who?" Gustafa asked disbelievingly.

Nami began giggling. She bit the laughter back and choked out, "YOUR MOM!"

Finally convinced that _someone _had been sneaking the Stone Oil, Jack picked up the cackling Nami and began carrying her away towards the farm. "I'll see you around, Gustafa. Sorry about her." He carried her through the field and into the farmhouse. There he laid her down on the bed and shook his head when he realized that she had fallen asleep. He bent down and sniffed her. _Yeah. She must have made a trip to the Blue Bar when I was chasing Murrey out of my store house earlier this morning._ _So that's why she was laughing when I said the word 'pudding'. How strange._

She woke up later that day and put her hand to her head. "Ow. Jack, where do you keep the aspirin?"

"In the kitchen. Er…why were you drinking Stone Oil this morning?" Jack was watching My Fair Princess and felt embarrassed about it.

"Why are _you_ watching girly anime?" Nami helped herself to the medicine and sat down on the floor next to him in front of the TV. "I…was feeling nostalgic. It reminded me of Lumina and the time that Muffy dared her to drink it. Then she ran to your house…oh that was priceless, my friend. Priceless."

Jack scowled at the memory. "Meh. Don't remind me. So…do you still miss her?"

"Yeah. But maybe she's enjoying herself in Mineral Town."

"Maybe. So…um…would you like to explain why you turned down Gustafa?"

"No."

"Er…okay."

-----------

Kate and Hugh knocked innocently on Daryl's door that fine afternoon. The scientist opened it and looked apprehensively at the scheming looks on the teen's faces. "Morning, Daryl. Hugh and I were feeling kind of hungry. Can we have some of that great brown sugar candy you have?"

His fears confirmed, Daryl tried to slam the door, but Hugh had slipped inside and had grabbed a picture where Flora was looking up at the sky and Carter was covered with a fake mustache, a tail, a pitchfork and horns. "I think that Flora would like this picture, don't you, Kate?"

"Yeah! Better yet, get the one where she's sunbathing in a bikini! That's a classic!" Kate cast a sly look at Daryl, who was a pasty white.

He made a grab for the picture, but Hugh held it away from him. "Give that back, brats!"

"I think he just called us brats, Kate!"

"I think you're right, Hugh. How should we punish such audacity?"

"We could start by taking this photo to Carter…didn't he threaten to lynch Daryl the last time he found a picture of Flora in Daryl's yard?" Hugh opened his eyes wide, effectively feigning innocence over evilness in his smile.

Kate wrapped an arm around Hugh's waist, causing the boy to heat up and push her away quickly. "You're a good partner with such _good _ideas. But you know…we could be _persuaded _to conveniently forget that Daryl even possesses such a picture…with a little incentive…like brown sugar candy…"

Hugh leered at Daryl. "I love brown sugar candy!"

"Gee…so do I. What a coincidence." She turned to look at Daryl, but he had already scuttled back into his house. When he returned outside, he presented each of the teens with a stick of chewy brown candy. Kate smiled. "Thank you, Daryl darling. You have such a sweet heart."

----------------------

Of all the strange things to happen that day, Muffy suddenly roared back into town, driven by the extremely handsome Huter Carr himself. She was dressed in a sparkly babydoll top with tight jeans beneath. In her arms she carried a tiny shivering Chihuahua because as you know, Chihuahuas are all the fashion in modeling these days. Her hair was cut in layers and her skin was covered in a light dusting of makeup. Marlin, Rock, Kassey, Patrick and Cody were all standing outside near the Inn when the blonde bombshell got out of the car and strutted into the Blue Bar.

Every single male's mouth dropped open and promptly began to drool. "Gee…whiz…she…wow…" They all began babbling disconnected words and phrases. Rock promptly began stumbling like a zombie towards the Blue Bar. Rock--like Gustafa--had been attempting to rethink his life and had hit upon an interesting conclusion. You see…the blonde boy was quite used to having Muffy in town 24/7 to comment on his hair, clothes and etc. Now that she was gone nobody would take his fashion queries seriously. Living in Jack's barn had begun to take a toll on him. No mirrors…no Muffy…he was slowly going insane. This wouldn't work in the long run. No way.

So now the only thing to do was to go beg Muffy to take him with her to Bevel Modeling. Heck…Rock was young and hott! He could make it in the business, right! And…while modeling…maybe he could win over the heart of his best friend. Just maybe.

---------------------

When Marlin found his way back to Vesta's Farm, he still looked star-struck. A curious Celia pulled him aside and asked him why his mouth was hanging open sideways. He pulled himself together and patted Celia's head softly. "Nothing. Muffy just came back…that's all."

"Muffy? She's back?" Celia was excited to hear that piece of news.

Marlin nodded. "Oh…yeah….she's back all right. She said she'd visit every two to three weeks, remember? She's…changed a bit. You should go see her."

Celia nodded. "I'll go see her when I've finished with the dishes." Marlin described her new look and then left the house, still ogling the image in his mind. Celia washed and dried the dishes quickly and left the farm. Before going to the Bar, she turned into Jack's place and knocked on his door. "Jack? Did you know that Muffy came back to town?"

"Nope. How's she doing?" Jack was unconcerned.

"Marlin told me that she cut her hair and looks super snazzy now. He also told me that her jeans are way too tight."

"Reeeally?" Now Jack was interested.

Nami raised her eyebrows and shook her head. "That…sounds like Muffy all over."

Celia sighed. "Marlin's pretty google-eyed about it. He worries me sometimes. I bet you're not nervous over Jack drooling at Muffy, are you, Nami?"

"Why would I care? We're not together. And besides…Jack isn't the type of guy that cares what a girl's butt looks like. I could trust him…if we were together…that is." Nami crossed her arms and looked away from the group. "Because if he cared about looks so much, he wouldn't hang around with me. Right, Jack?"

This put Jack in a bad situation. If he agreed with her he'd be saying that she wasn't attractive, but that he liked her personality. That wasn't right. He certainly liked her personality…but…dang, she was awfully easy on the eyes too. And if he disagreed with her he'd be saying that he liked her looks and not her personality which was totally not the case. "Er…"

"See? He hesitated. That means that what I said the other day was correct!" Celia jumped up in the air and Nami looked miffed. "I was right and he doesn't understand a thing we are saying. So…yeah. I'm going to see Muff now. Bye!" She waved and left the farmhouse, heading towards the Blue Bar.

Nami shook her head and sniffed. "I don't understand what she's saying." Jack watched her walk away more quickly than normal and narrowed his eyes. _What could she mean?_

---------------------

"Nyah, nyah, Daryl, you can't get the picture back!" Kate taunted the scientist, who was becoming more and more frazzled-looking and unstable. The kids had become monumentally angry when the sticks of brown candy had turned out to be the less desirable molasses chews instead of brown sugar like hoped. To vent their displeasure, they took to alternately threatening to show the picture of Flora in a bikini to Carter and also to inject him with a deadly disease that was easily accessible to the kids through…what else…the internet.

Daryl tripped over a rock in his yard. "Give…that…back!" He screamed, seeing spots of anger before his eyes. "What if she's walking around and sees it? Give it!"

"We don't like people who don't comply easily with blackmail. Brown sugar candy or no picture for you!" Hugh caught Kate's arm and pulled her beside of him. She smiled smugly at Daryl from the side of the boy.

Daryl suddenly snapped and tackled the two. Arms, legs, hair and various other accessories went flying in a whirlwind of scratching and yelps. A solitary noise interrupted them. Flora stood at the entrance of the Lab Yard, looking at the fight with confusion. From the sky, the beat-up photograph of her in a bikini that had been thrown in the fight came drifting gently down and landed at her feet.

"What's this?" Flora asked, bending down to pick it up.

**------**

**Heh heh heh! Another cliffie! **


	15. Teeny Weeny Gold Bikini

_I'm back from my temporary hiatus now! I've worked hard on this chapter and I can't wait to read your comments on _this _one. Read on!_

_**Kiri268:**__ I know…I'm just too evil…and guess what? I left another cliffie for you this time, too! Heehee!_

_**LookAway:**__ Why thank you! I've never been called 'original' before! I love your penname, by the way!_

_**Snowpenguin55:**__ I know, I know! Cliffies seem to be my specialty…_

_**Midnight Raining Down:**__ Who doesn't know what 'emo' means? (Er…beside my parents, that is…but they're kinda stuck in the nineties..) Thanks for reviewing!_

_**Morgan Lee Faye:**__ And here it is, m'dear. You're so kind. I feel so loved with all my story-followers…huggles_

_**Awesome Rapidash:**__ Sorry…there isn't any half-clad Flora in the forecast…but there is someone else…nothing more said here. I'm sure this chapter will answer your question about the wonderful world of Jami._

_**Moonlit Dreaming:**__ Kate and Hugh are really…odd…aren't they? Will Flora kill Daryl? Will she realize her burning passion for creepy stalkers? Find out!_

_**1angelette:**__ If I didn't love you, Lenga, I would smack you for even suggesting that there might possibly be even the tiniest hint of a real Gustami relationship coming from MY pen. Why, I'd rather write a Jockustafa threesome fic than a Gustami one! For shame!_

_**Cloudy.skye:**__ Rock isn't the only one going crazy in this town! Read on to see what I mean!_

_**AshRB:**__ I'm glad you like Flora because she's one of the ones that actually have a happy-fluffy-kittens-and-bunnies ending! I'll be quiet now. Read on._

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Teeny-Weeny Gold Bikini**

Neither Jack nor Nami were completely surprised when Celia returned from her visit with Muffy looking positively outraged. "It's scandalous! Simply scandalous!" She yelled, ready to throw something.

Nami looked up from the notebook in which she was carefully writing. She'd been writing in it often as of late. "What's the damage report, Celia?"

"It's a nightmare. _She's _a nightmare--along with that stupid Hunter Carr of hers! I was ready to kick her. I'd love to kick her! I don't know what kind of deity she thinks she is all dolled up like that until she looks like a perfect clown."

Jack's face carried a befuddled expression, but he suddenly lit up and said, with the air of having discovered something amazing, "So something is wrong with Muffy?"

Wow. Our buddy Jack can be pretty deep at times. I'm impressed even as I write this. Both girls hurled disgusted looks in his direction and then turned back to engage in the intriguing form of communication that only happens between girls when they stare at each other and pass thoughts through their eyes. "Perhaps you'd like to explain to some of us who are slower than others." Nami sat down in a worn chair patterned with fleur de lis and jerked her head to indicate Jack.

Reservedly pleased with the attention and the spotlight, Celia began to speak. "Of course you know that Forget-Me-Not isn't the most elegant place in the world, but I'm used to our quiet way of life. Next to the sturdy, comfortable Blue Bar, the ugly limousine that Muffy's new boyfriend drives just looks ridiculous. I walked through the door expecting a warm hug and a good story from my best friend, but boy was I disappointed! She was standing in front of the bar looking like a witch from Glitterland. I never saw the likes of all the glitter. Ignoring all the fuss and feathers, I stepped up to her and held out my arms for a hug. Guess what she did next! She backed up and twittered that I was 'dirty'! Good heavens alive, I nearly died and flew straight to the pearly gates above! 'Celia, just look at the state of your dress!' She told me. 'You look like a complete wreck!' How is that for a greeting?

"My mind didn't accept what she said and I just looked at her funny while wiping my hands on my apron. 'Come again?' I asked. 'If I hug you I'll muss my new clothes.' She explained prissily. My ears about fell off. 'You won't hug your best friend?' I cried. She stood there looking all hot and embarrassed until Hunter-Carr-the-god-of-all-things-fashionable spoke up. 'I thought you said that Beatrice Vedine was your best friend.' Perhaps Muffy would have contradicted him, but I stormed out of that stupid bar aways from stupid Hunter and especially stupid, stupid, STUPID Muffy! You should have seen Griffin's face! He looked dumbfounded! Even air-headed Rock looked sick!" Out of breath and awaiting proper outrage, Celia glared at her brother, craving support.

Again Jack proved beyond a shadow of a doubt just how profound his incredible mind was. "Wait…" he licked his lips and blinked twice. "Muffy's boyfriend drives a _limo?_ No wonder you're so bent out of shape. This is heavy, man."

Celia stared at the farmer. What could she possibly say to that? He completely missed the wrenching heartbreak and was focused on what kind of ride Muffy's pimp boyfriend drove. Idiot. Baka. Estùpido. Balourd. Idiota. Hakuchi. But then again…he was, in fact, male. It wasn't entirely his fault.

-----------------------

For the three standing outside the lab, time seemed to slow to the consistency of oatmeal cookie batter when Flora began to reach for the wayward snapshot. It was comical, really, the way their faces contorted into varying degrees of horror. Hugh gaped like a fish and stepped backwards towards the house, pulling along Kate who, though shocked, was disturbingly gleeful. Daryl was simply aghast. He froze and stared at Flora with bloodshot saucer eyes.

Flora gently picked up the worn photograph and straightened her shapely body before looking at it. "Is this…?"

She never finished her sentence because Daryl threw himself at her knees and cried wholeheartedly for her forgiveness. "OOOOOHHHHHH! FORGIVE ME, OH BEAUTIFUL FLORA! IT WAS THOSE WRETCHED CHILDREN, I SWEAR! THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT! IT WASN'T MY FAULT! WAHHHH! IT WAS THE DEVIL'S FAULT!" He lay in the dust and sobbed like he'd never smile again. His tears dripped onto the ground, creating tiny muddy areas.

The pretty blonde girl bent down and pulled Daryl to his feet. "You've kept this picture of me in your house for three years?" The scientist had no choice but to nod. "Why…"

Both Kate and Hugh inched forward, waiting to see the slam come down upon Daryl's head. "Here it comes!" Hugh whispered.

"That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard of! Only someone who truly loves me would keep this old picture for that long! I'm so happy!" She clapped her hands happily and Daryl stared up at her with an expression of pure, unadulterated disbelief. The teens behind the couple signaled each other and sneaked into the house to pilfer the candy drawer whilst the owner was busy.

------------------------

Muffy had excused herself from the company of Griffin, Hunter, Rock and Kassey. After Celia left, Griffin and Rock exchanged a look that clearly outlined what they were thinking. Perhaps the bottle green sparkly eyeliner had been too much for Forget-Me-Not Valley. Or maybe it was the sequined tube top. Or the…scandalously tight jeans. Hunter had liked her outfit…why hadn't the rest of the town?

Hunter _was _different, though. Just being around him made Muffy feel different, too. She acted like a different person around him. Bevel Modeling was such a wonderful, starry, glamorous place and you could really lose your sense of self among all the girls that looked all alike after a while. Everybody was beautiful, image was everything and the pressure to fit in was stifling. Muffy had resisted it at first, but finally succumbed and fell in among the starlets standing around in less clothes than you see at the beach. All the dermatological visits, the salon stays and the wardrobe fittings took up day after day until she no longer thought about Celia or Griffin or even Rock. But who said that beauty didn't come with a chafing price tag?

She reached over and scruffed the fur of her Chihuahua, whom she had named Image. The tiny dog was white and had long fur on it's ears and belly, but short fur everywhere else. "You don't mind eyeliner, do you, Image?" she asked, pouting. The dog stopped shivering momentarily and licked Muffy's thumb. "Thanks. Wouldn't you like it if I got you a kitty friend?" Image immediately began to shake again. Muffy took that as a no.

"Muffy!" Hunter's voice called up the staircase. "Didn't you have something to give to that messy brunette girl? Wasn't that the whole reason we came? You'd better hurry because we have to prepare your judge's ensemble."

Oh! Yes! The reason that Muffy had come back to Forget-Me-Not Valley was to deliver the ticket to Celia! Perhaps that would bring her back into her…best…friend's good graces.

----------------------

Celia was still stewing over the events of late when Muffy cautiously approached. "What do you want?" She asked rudely, glaring and ripping a carrot out of the ground with unnecessary force.

"Well…you see…the only reason I came back to Forget-Me-Not was to see if you'd be interested in something…" Muffy scuffed her foot in the ground nervously. Celia nodded for the blonde girl to continue. "I was chosen to be one of the judges in this year's Miss Country Belle Pageant…and they gave me one free ticket to give to a country girl who I think could win! You'll have an agent and a stylist and everything! Think of all the fancy gowns and swimsuits you'll be able to wear! What do you say?" She pulled out a shiny pink ticket and waved it in the air.

Celia didn't even consider a moment. "No." She answered, uprooting another carrot and wiping soil off with her skirt. Her voice shook with scorn. "I don't want to be like you."

I doubt that I need to tell you how much that hurt Muffy's feelings. Pushing the tears down, she pocketed the ticket and went in search of Flora, whom she found at…Daryl's house. With the feeling that she was interrupting something, she quickly explained about the pageant and showed the ticket to the assistant excavator.

"Oh…that sounds fabulous, but…I just found the love of my life! I don't have time for a pageant right now! Sorry." Flora grinned and took a step towards a very shell-shocked scientist.

Discouraged and slightly nauseas at the thought of Flora and Daryl…well…you know…Muffy sought out Kate, who was in the midst of sharing a box of candy with Hugh behind Dr. Hardy's house. Once more she explained the ticket. "You could compete in the junior's part. Would you like to?"

Kate glanced at her friend and shook her head. "No can do, blondie. I have a webcam appointment with a certain Steve Jobs on that day. He owes me money. Too bad for you." Hugh looked disappointed, but Muffy nodded and wandered around until she found an upturned bucket outside of Jack's farm. She sat down upon it and scratched her head wearily.

"Who else could I possibly find to go to a Miss Country Belle Pageant? I'd even ask Romana if she were still alive! What a shame that Lumina had to go away…Vesta's too fat…Nina's dead…Oh! I can ask Chris! Great idea!" She hurried to Chris' house and knocked on the door. "Chris! How would you like to compete in a pageant? Redheads are all the rage nowadays, I've heard."

Chris shook her head and sighed. "I'm sorry, but my husband wouldn't like it if I did anything like that. Why don't you ask Samantha next door?"

"What? Me? Compete in a pageant? No, honey, I'm just not that young anymore. I'd look and feel silly." Samantha laughed and palmed her forehead. "Thanks for asking, though! If only I were ten years younger…"

Muffy was at her wit's end. What would she do now? Who else could possibly compete in a Miss Country Belle Pageant? Perhaps she could put a wig on Rock…no! Oh…wait just a minute…no…impossible…what if…?

Two minutes later she was knocking on Jack's door. The farmer boy answered and observed with displeasure the new-and-not-quite-improved-Muffy-Scott. "Yes?"

Muffy dropped her head down to her chest. "I can't believe I am doing this…but may I speak to Nami?"

"You want _me _to compete in some beauty pageant?" Nami couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I'd say yes…but _beauty _pageants are for _beautiful _girls. I'd make you look stupid."

Muffy shook her head and took Nami's hand. "No, no, you _are…_beautiful! Jack agrees, right, Jack?"

The boy's face went hot and he cast about for something to say. "Er…yes."

"Well…would I have to wear a dress?"

"Of course."

"Would I have to wear a bathing suit?"

"Naturally…"

"Will there be free food there?"

"I promise there will be! Just please say yes!" The young model was ready to beg and plead on her knees for assent.

Nami took a deep breath and finally shrugged her shoulders. "Sure…I guess. But there better be cream puffs."

Muffy had never felt like hugging someone anymore than she felt like hugging Nami now. "Thank you!"

----------------------

Two days later, Nami was backstage at the Miss Country Belle Pageant, held in scenic Giant Cap Island. It had taken half a day to drive there in the limo and the rest of the day to be poked, plucked, blow-dried, scrubbed, exfoliated, moisturized, primped, glitterized, made up and fitted with a vengeance that brought stars before her eyes. Muffy enjoyed it all, offering advice on colors and styles of skirts. Jack, whom Nami had insisted ride along although she didn't know why, tried to stay out of the way and gave the thumbs up sign whenever it looked like the redhead was about to go insane.

The pageant was set to be in five hours and already the beautiful stylist was working on Nami's stubbornly unworkable hair. "Alright honey, we're going to be _trying_ for a chic style here…I might twist a few of those hair jewels into the style, though. It's gonna match your gown _wonderfully_. The jewels will, I mean, not your hair. My but your hair _is_ red, ain't it? I wish we had time to dye it…you'd make a _fabulous_ brunette or even auburn head…but I guess red will _have_ to do. It will complement your swimwear _amazingly_, though!" The stylist said. "You have the _slightest_ hint of freckles, but I can hide that with foundation. You're _awful_ pale…I wonder if my makeup will be too dark for you. If it is, we can borrow some of Patty's. She works next door. I'm Cassidy, by the way! It's _certainly_ a pleasure working with you today! You have _such _a nice _edgy _look…I can do a lot with that!"

Nami tried hard to ignore the chatter and focused on her reflection. Who was she kidding? She was far too ugly to be in a pageant. She wished she hadn't come. Her cheeks began to redden as she steered her eyes away from the mirror and towards her fingernails which had been painted a cardinal red. Cassidy worked away at her hair, using far too much mousse.

It seemed like ten years later when it was finally announced that her hair was finished and it was time to step into the gown. Cassidy and a few other girls began lacing her into it and then stepped back to admire the view. "Oh! Why you're just a knockdown! Wait until that boyfriend of yours sees you in that!" They seemed to sense that they had struck a nerve. "Glory, but she gets awfully red when she blushes, doesn't she?" The girls giggled and began to steer her towards the door.

As soon as they opened it, however, a nervous looking woman with a vein pulsing in her temple rushed up to the group. "Is this Miss Setter? Well, there's been a slight change. Miss Bradley _borrowed _ the cream swimsuit that we were going to use with Miss Setter and she hasn't returned it yet. We decided to use a different one. Here, take this and hang it up in her dressing room, okay?" She brought out from behind her back a bikini on a hanger.

It was shiny satin gold. Just wait until Jack saw _that. _


	16. The End Justifies the Means

_Well. I bet none of you expected this to be the last chapter! I hope you'll like the various endings, but if you don't…well…sorry about that! Perhaps Nami's bikini will make it up to you? Thank you so much for reading it. I'm honored. If you wouldn't mind, a review makes all the difference in the world!_

_**LookAway:**__ No, I'm planning to finish it after sixteen chapters. : )_

_**Snowpenguin55: **__No cliffie for you today! Thanks for being a fanboy!_

_**Midnight Raining Down:**__ Unexpected, eh? You're saying that half-mad, partly-schitzo, obsessed scientists don't deserve love? Haha! Thank you so much for reading this story._

_**Awesome Rapidash:**__ Kaboom! Last chapter! I'm happy and a little disturbed about how excited you are about Nami. Well…read on! Thank you for reading! _

_**1angelette:**__ Yes, my friend, I accept your apology. Just kidding. -hugs- I hope you like this last chapter._

_**Cloudy.skye:**__ Well thank you so much! I'm actually quite embarrassed about Raindrops…but…that's alright. Thanks for reading!_

_**AshRB:**__ Wouldn't Rock make a great girl? Hmm…no…that's just wrong. What a mental image!_

_**Kountry101: **__As said below…well…if I told you that…I'd have to bump the rating…_

_**10Join-Fei: **__Thank you! Hee hee!_

_**Chicken Yuki: **__Thank you so much for that lovely drawing of Kate. I absolutely love it! Last chapter…read on…_

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: The Ends Justify the Means

Ten minutes before the pageant was set to begin, Nami was led into a room full of (mostly curly blonde) girls in various dresses that sparkled invitingly in the bright lights. The women were drinking water and nibbling daintily on celery sticks. One particular girl waved as Nami approached. "Hello! Oh…I love your shoes! My name is Cherry. What's yours?" Her hair was an angelic golden blonde, purer than even Muffy's color. Her eyes were a cunning blue and her dress was white and slinky. It form fitted her body all the way down to calves before sliding off to one side and puddling elegantly on the floor. Her shoes were white and had no jewels on them. Unlike the rest of the girls and even Nami herself, Cherry's dress had no sequins, no bows, no ruffles and no faux gems. The sleeves were just slightly wider than spaghetti straps and the neck fell down to just above her breasts, draping almost like a goddess' feminine toga.

Even standing next to this supreme specimen of the female gender made Nami blush in embarrassment. How silly she felt to be in a competition against all these other girls! Cherry noticed the flush on her new friend's cheeks and smiled sweetly. "Er…my name is Nami. It's…nice to meet you."

"Are you too warm? Your face is flushed."

Nami shook her head and switched her weight from one elegantly adorned foot to the next. "No, I'm fine. I feel foolish, though, to be honest."

"Why?"

"Well…I'm not sure why I'm even here. Look at all of the really pretty girls here! Look at you! I'm not beautiful and I can't believe I accepted the ticket!" Nami dropped her head down and crossed her arms, trying to hide herself.

Cherry tilted her head and opened her eyes wide. "You think you look bad next to me?" She giggled and reached her slender hands out to grasp Nami's trembling ones. "Imagine that! I was thinking exactly the same thing about you! You have every right to be here with us. Have you looked in the mirror recently?"

A warmth spread through Nami's body. "They wouldn't let me." She looked up and caught an impish gleam in the young woman's eyes. "Do you know any of the other girls competing?"

"I know them all. My mother used to judge this competition yearly and my sister is a stylist. I've been an audience member every year ever since I was five. Here, let me point some of them out to you." She pulled Nami over to a corner and began pointing at some of the contestants. The first girl she named was a short brunette who wore a green sequined gown. "That's Marie. She's Miss Amarillo Bay. That one over there is Megan. She's Miss Cholla Plateau." Miss Cholla Plateau wore a red cocktail dress. "Oh! The girl with the pretty skin is Lilli. She's Miss…actually…I'm not quite sure. Miss Berry Valley is behind her--Dana. Stay away from her." Dana, a sharp platinum blonde, looked like she'd like to kick something. "Oh! That girl right there is Eve. She's Miss Flowerbud Village. She looks slightly tipsy…last year she tripped over her own feet." Eve was also blonde, with red eyes and a red flower behind her ear. "Speaking of tipsy…I don't see Miss Mineral Town this year. A few years ago a girl named Karen competed. She was drop-dead drunk that year. This time around I heard that she's on maternity leave. Her mom, Sasha, used to be a big participant when she was younger. That's all I can think of. I'm Miss Angel Peaks, by the way."

"I guess I'm Miss Forget-Me-Not Valley. That's an awful long name comparatively. I think it's almost time to go on, by the way. How many events are there?"

"There's four events. First is the introduction phase, then comes the swimsuit walk…then the personality phase…and finally the evening gown walk and results. No sweat. The personality phase is easy. All they do is ask you questions about random stuff. Two years ago Miss Cholla--" She was silenced by a bell ringing. "Showtime. Break a leg, Nami."

Unsure how to take the phrase 'break a leg', Nami followed Cherry out through a door and into a backstage area where she and the other contestants were given instructions on how to walk. The girls lined up behind a velvet curtain on the slippery stage and given sashes stating their various towns and valleys. Nami swallowed hard, the lights went out, spotlights focused on the girls and, with a swell of orchestrated music, the heavy curtain rose to reveal a runway and a large audience.

------------------------

Carter was sitting beside the entrance to the excavation site, looking forlorn and pitiful. He had nearly hit the roof when Flora began packing all of her belongings into a bag while humming. "What are you doing?!?"

"I'm leaving, silly! What does it look like?"

"What? You can't leave! We're just about to hit something incredible--I can feel it. What about Mr. Poopsikins?"

Flora shrugged. "I'll take him with me. I'm not moving that far away, Carter, dear. I'll still be working here."

This relieved Carter only minutely. "Oh. Why are you moving, then?"

"Well…it's because…" Flora's eyes misted over and she clasped her hands in ecstasy. "it's because I've found my one true love!"

"What?!? Who?"

"Daryl!"

"WHAT?!?"

"Daryl!"

"I heard you fine!"

"Why'd you ask me to repeat myself, then?"

"I didn't!"

"Yes you did!"

"No I didn't!"

"Yes…you did!"

----------------------

Hugh leaned against a tree and tried to look tough as Kate conversed with a gray haired man dressed in a black turtleneck and jeans. The man's face was covered in a stubbly beard and he wore glasses over small, beady eyes. "Actually, I need that thirty thousand in the next _week, _Steve. Surely you can have it to me by then." The man replied that he wasn't sure if it could be secured in such a short amount of time. "How many stupid mp3 players have you sold by now? A lot. You can get the money, I know you can." Again the man made an excuse and Kate cut him off, waving her hand in front of the webcam that made the conference possible.

An ant crawled serenely over the laptop's keyboard and was leisurely swatted by the computer's mistress. "I doubt I need to remind you what will happen if you fail me, am I correct?" Steve nodded. "Good. Now wire the money in by next week or I take back the patent. No ifs, ands or buts. Thank you." With a satisfied grunt, she pressed a key, ending the exchange.

"Tactfully done." Hugh sat down beside her and grinned.

Kate leaned back and returned his careless grin.

--------------------

Nervous to the core, Jack squirmed in his seat, trying to find a happy place. _Why doesn't it start already? _He thought desperately, looking up at the judges' desk where Muffy sat, smiling for the hundreds of cameras flashing in her face. The lights dimmed without any warning, taking Jack by surprise and shooting a shiver up his spine. "Welcome to the sixty-third annual Miss Country Belle Pageant! Cell phones must be turned off! Now…give a warm welcome for our lovely contestants!" Orchestra music blasted and the curtain rose.

The boy sat forward in his seat and gaped. He should come to pageants more often! These women were gorgeous! And just look at Nami! She was dressed in a black, shimmering, scandalously low gown that flowed from where it was tied with a golden cord around her waist. The girl beside of her, Miss Angel Peaks, was another doll, but in quite a different way than Nami. In fact, there were many different _styles _of looks up there. Miss Angel Peaks was…well…angelic in white. Miss Flowerbud Village was a very sexy kind of beautiful--with long locks of dark blonde hair and a lavender filmy gown that had an open slit down the front all the way to her belly button. It was tied like a corset, of course, but still…yikes. Miss Cholla Plateau was chic-looking with short black hair that swept over one eye. Nami was just classically beautiful--the red hair over the black dress. One by one they were introduced and they took a walk up and down the runway. Jack sat back in his seat and enjoyed himself tremendously.

---------------------

Nami wasn't in much of a hurry to get into the gold bikini. Strutting around a stage in naught but a tiny swimsuit did not appeal to the girl. She hadn't tried to tan that summer and she knew it…she'd likely blind the audience with her whiteness…oh heavens…why hadn't she at least sat outside for a couple of hours like Cherry?

Her thoughts were interrupted when Cassidy-the-stylist suddenly began rubbing her stomach with a cotton ball covered in shiny powder. "It's bronzer." Explained the girl. "I was planning on only doing your face…but…the rest of you seems to need it, too. 'Scuse me while I apply it. Patty's helping me if you don't mind." Together the two smocked girls rubbed the powder all over Nami's legs, arms and stomach. The end result was apparently pleasing, but Nami couldn't see herself because the room had no mirror.

The swimsuit fit well and although she itched to see herself, Nami sat down in a checkered loveseat and waited until Cassidy announced the start of the second phase.

The stage lights were even brighter when she stepped out onto the polished floor and walked across in her bare feet. She turned to face the audience like instructed and posed, while searching the many, many faces for the one that she longed to see. There he was…blushing scarlet. His eyes met hers. Nami stared at him and suddenly went blank as her heart did a cartwheel and began pounding fast and furiously. Confused and disoriented, she felt the corners of her mouth pulling upwards and something clicked in her brain. Gradually she became aware of the backstage techie hissing at her to get off the stage, so she scooted to the side of the stage nervously.

I shan't bother recording what Jack was thinking at that moment. I'd hate to have to bump my rating up.

-------------------

"YES, you did!" Flora screamed.

"NO, I most certainly did not!" Carter screamed back.

"What were we arguing about again?!?"

"I don't remember!!"

"Oh." Flora scratched her neck and put an artifact in her gym bag. "I'll be back for work tomorrow morning at the same time."

Carter hung his head. "I don't know what I'll do when you leave…you know I can't cook…"

An idea struck Flora's head. "Hey…if you pay me five G a night…I'll come cook dinner for you. How about that?"

"Well…alright. I also want brownies once a week."

"Done. Now is everything alright again?"

"Yeah. I guess so." Carter pulled his assistant to her feet and gave her a big hug. "I'll miss you…"

Flora pushed him away gently and smiled. "I'm two minutes away. No need to miss me. See you tomorrow, okay?" Carter nodded and sighed as she walked down the path towards the main street.

Two minutes later, Flora opened the door to the lab and called out, "Daryl? I'm home!"

Daryl had never heard three more beautiful words.

--------------------

Muffy had been nervous at the beginning of the pageant, but Nami had proved to be a worthy contestant. She no longer worried whether or not the redhead would clump across the stage or trip on the heels or scowl at the audience. But she did worry about what the girl would say to the personality questions.

Her worries were well founded. The question and answer session went like this:

Judge: Hello, Miss Setter. Tell me--have you enjoyed the pageant so far?

Nami: Not really.

Judge: I see. Well…what would you like to see happen in the world?

Nami: I think that everyone should stop worrying so much about how they look.

Judge: You mean that everyone should be more comfortable with their own appearance?

Nami: I mean that they shouldn't be so worried about it that they have to participate in stupid pageants like this. I wouldn't be here if Muffy had had any other option.

Judge: (Nonplussed) Don't you think that it's good for girls to show their personal gifts of beauty?

Nami: No. It's stupid.

Judge: (Upset) What do you think about global warming?

Nami: Global warming is a lie. I hate it how everyone is acting like Chicken Little as if the sky were falling when it's absolutely nothing.

Judge: (Appalled) Where do you see yourself in ten years?

Nami: Probably exactly where I am now.

Judge: (Getting smart-mouthed) On this stage?

Nami: No, idiot. In Forget-Me-Not Valley.

Judge: (Angry) You're a cheeky little brat, did you know that?

Nami: Yep.

Judge: (Shaking with anger) I hope you lose.

Nami: Considering as how you're one of the judges…I probably will.

Judge: (Speechless) You don't care?

Nami: Nope.

At this time, Muffy interjected and said that she'd ask the final question. A little idea had been hatching under the mounds of curls on her head. "Miss Setter…do you have a boyfriend?"

Nami: "You see that brown-haired farmer boy in the eighth row? Yeah, he's my boyfriend. Actually, he's my fiancé. We're getting married next spring. His name's Jack."

Judge: I pity Jack.

Muffy: Stop that, Lara!

Judge: I won't take this! I'M the one in the judge's chair!

Nami: I pity the chair.

Things went downhill from there. Finally Nami was escorted off of the stage by the same techie that had hissed at her earlier. Lara began writing her resignation from the Miss Country Belle Pageant Board of Judges. Muffy buried her head in her hands and prayed that it would be over soon.

You're probably wondering what Jack is thinking about now, right? Well…see…if I told you that…well…I'd embarrass myself typing it down! The rest of the pageant passed quickly. For her final evening gown, Nami wore a baby blue dress that form-fitted until it fishtailed at the bottom. The third judge that had, luckily, been in the bathroom during Nami's personality session, stood up and announced, "Thank you all for competing. Let's have a round of applause for these lovely ladies!" The audience applauded joyfully. "And now…the winner of the Miss Country Belle Pageant is…Miss Angel Peaks! Congratulations!" The crowd went wild as the tired techie brought out an enormous glimmering crown and a sash that proclaimed the title.

Nami clapped happily. Cherry looked so beautiful in her flowing blue-gray silk gown that she seemed to glow under the lights. Cherry belonged to this world. Nami didn't. All she wanted at that moment was to put on some comfy clothes and go back home. Being beautiful was tiring.

-------------------------

When the trio finally pulled up beside the Blue Bar, Celia was there to greet them. "Nami! How'd you do?" She asked excitedly.

Nami glanced at Jack, with whom she was holding hands. "She…got last place. She made a judge pretty angry."

"I see that you two are looking cozy. What happened?" Celia could easily imagine Nami angering any judge out there.

Jack shrugged. "Oh…things just fell into place. Nami decided that we're getting married next spring."

Muffy slipped an arm around both Jack and Nami's waists. "Is she going to live with you until then?"

"We don't _do _anything!" The boy went scarlet and unsuccessfully attempted to wriggle out of her grip. "But yes. She's now a farmer, right, Nami?"

Nami glared at him. "I guess you could say that. Until next spring…"

"Then you'll be a farmer's _wife._"

"Why yes…" the redhead said fondly, pushing Muffy away and putting her arms around the boy. "Yes I will be."

---------------------

The next day, Muffy was preparing to leave again for Bevel with Hunter when Rock ran up and interrupted the two. "Muffy…I wanna go with you."

"What? You can't do that…!" Muffy shook her head and made a face.

"Why not? I can be a model. I'm handsome, aren't I? Take me with you, please?"

Muffy stepped towards the limo and picked up Image, who was sitting and shivering on the plush seat. "Why?"

"What if I told you that I didn't know?"

"That's not a good enough reason."

"What if…I told you that I wanted to be with _you?_"

Muffy stiffened and clutched Image to her chest. Hunter leaned on the car behind her and glared at the blonde boy standing in the street. "Rock…you'll always be one of my very best friends. But…I'm with Hunter now." She suddenly handed Image to Hunter and rushed at Rock with a hug. "I couldn't love you like that. Celia was right. I don't want you to be like me."

Rock wrapped his arms around the girl and closed his eyes. "There's no chance?"

"No." Muffy whispered, wetting his shirt with her tears.

Rock nodded and carefully untangled himself from her. "I understand, I guess. I wasn't quick enough. But here, take this with you. That way I'll always be with you somehow." He reached up and unclasped the peace medallion hanging from his neck. With a swift motion he put it in her hand, turned and walked away, towards Jack's barn and home. Muffy hooked the necklace around her neck and slowly got in the limo.

It drove out of Forget-Me-Not…not to return for a long, long time…until a chubby blonde child bore the medallion around his neck.

--------------------------

Rock slouched over and joined Jack at a section of the fence, leaning against it and squinting in the sunlight. "You know…love sucks."

"Mmm…" Jack put his chin in the palm of his hand and drank in the sight of his scarlet-haired girlfriend scribbling in her tiny notebook. Thinking of a sparkling blue pageant dress that almost perfectly matched the feather in his backpack, he sighed a contented sigh. "Love will raise your blood pressure. That woman has taken probably two years off of my life expectancy from stress…but…" He stood up and stretched before shaking his head slowly. "the sight of Nami in a gold bikini arguing with a judge and scowling at the world makes every single worry worth it."

Rock made a face. "I'll take your word for it."

------------------------

EXCERPT FROM DIARY:

_It's not every day that I learn something, diary. In fact, it's very rarely that I learn something because I already know it all. But today was one of those days. It came to me while I was leaning against a tree, talking to my best friend Hugh. This little bit of knowledge was swift, sudden and very satisfactory. _

_I learned that kissing is just plain __**nice.**_

-------------------------

THE END


	17. Author's Note

_Ohayo, my darling readers. I know…I'm making another little addition after all this time. I just thought that I should make those of you who aren't aware of the fact…er aware that I'm going to be writing the asked-for sequel to __Love Sucks_

_It's called __Die Now Kthnx__ and it shall be set fifteen years into the future from where we left off at LS. Will your favorite pairing survive? I promise you that some of you will be disappointed! And, like I said in my profile, THERE'S AN ALL NEW SHOCKING PAIRING IN STORE! I'm so excited about it! It comes all the way from another one of my fics. You know how much I love stirring the stories together. _

_Just to tease you a bit, I thought I'd give you some facts and tantalizing questions. _

_**Ruby isn't dead. Oh, no. But now she has a partner-in-attempted-murder…**_

_**One of your favorite pairings hasn't survived. Sorry!**_

_**I'm mixing the MTers and the FMNVites once again. Whoohoo.**_

_**There'll be 10+ new charries to lavish affection upon. **_

_**Someone has moved into Romana's now haunted mansion. **_

_**I hope you like scandals. -ahem-**_

_**What has Carter dug up that changes his fortune forever?**_

_**Is Rock still living in Jack's barn? **_

_**What will finally cause Kate to snap?**_

_Heh heh heh! __Die Now Kthnx__ will only be released after __Threshold__ is finished. It can't come before that…because…well…I can't be telling you that, can I? Nope! _

_Also, I had a few things to address from your reviews (which I found freaking hilarious). _

_**Mei: **__Omg. I have never been told that I use dry humor. I suppose that's good, though! That was the longest review I've ever gotten and I thank you for it! Why did you think 'Kai' when you read about Hunter? Here's a hint: check Hunter's last name, then skip on over to __Threshold__ and check out Kai and Popuri's last name. _

_**Cloudy.skye: **__Trust me, you certainly aren't the only one who regards global warming as a huge political joke. Thanks for the review. -waits to get totally flamed-_

_Thank you for reading! Whoohoo! I love all of you guys!_


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